
rsoai 





ffr^Pi CA3^i^^ 



HISTORY 



-OF- 



Southern Oregon, 



COMPRISING 



Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry ind Coos 



COUNTIES, 



Compiled from the Most Authentic Sources. 



PUBLISHED BY 



A. Gr. WALLING, 

1884. 



PORTLAND, OREGON : 

PRINTING AND LITHOGRAPHING HOUSE OF A. G. WALLING, CORNER FIRST AND ASH STREETS. 

1884. 



1 3 76 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S83, by A. G. Walling, in the office of 
the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. D. C. 



077 *f 2> to 

37 9*- tr 



PREFACE. 



In giving these pages to the public, the publisher 1ms been actuated by the laud- 
able ambition to materially aid in a great work — the preservation in historical form 01 

V ... " ... 

the fast-fading annals of Oregon. The history of this greal state, the story of its 

struggles and triumphs, has never been written; nor can it be until the annals of each 
section have been carefully gathered and recorded. They are the stones, which, set in 
place by the hand of a skillful builder, make the complete edifice. To gather the scat- 
tered threads of history ere they fall from the hands of those who have spun them, and 
to weave them into a complete and reliable narrative, is the arduous task the publisher 
has assumed; and to do this lie has undertaken the work in the only manner by which 
this result can be accomplished. 

Xo portion of the state exceeds in importance or historical interest that section to 
which the pages of this volume are specially devoted. The counties of Douglas, <lack- 
son, Josephine, Coos and Curry, usually referred to under the title of "Southern 
( Oregon," are large, populous and prosperous, and their annals constitute one of the most 
important factors in the history of Oregon. 

The work has been jierformed by a corps of able writers, who have patiently 
examined every source of information, giving special attention to drawing out the tes- 
timony of the pioneers and actois in the scenes portrayed. Every volume touch- 
ing upon the subject has been carefully j)erused, the state and county records have been 
examined, the files of the earliest newspapers of the state have been searched, pioneers 
have been interviewed by the hundred, not only those now living in Southern Oregon, 
but others encountered in every section of the Pacific Coast. Pains have been taken 
to reconcile as nearly as possible all conflicting statements, and to do this the compilers 
have interview men of all shades of opinion. Whenever possible, disputed points have 
been decided by reference to official records and documents and the contemporaneous 
accounts in the newspapers. It is upon this careful investigation of all original sources 
of information that this volume bases its claim of being the only reliable record of the 
events of which it speaks. Everything previously written on these subjects has been 
but personal recollections, valuable to be sure, but incomplete, or was prepared for the 
purpose of attacking or defending some particular person, organization or theory, and 
is valuable, not as history, but simply as evidence from which history may be compiled. 
The task has been an arduous one, but it was undertaken with a full realization of its 
difficulty, and has been conscientiously performed. That no errors whatever should 
be committed could not even be hoped for; but their very scarcity and unimportant 
nature are evidences of the general accuracy of the work. 

The publisher returns his sincere thanks for the encouragement and substantial 
aid extended by the state, county and city officials, the press, and the intelligent citizens 
generally. With these remarks he submits the volume to the thoughtful perusal of the 
Pioneers, the sturdy men and women who have through many years of toil, hardship 
and danger, bravely woven the tapestry of Oregon's history. 

THE PUBLISHER. 

Portland, Oregon, May 1-3, 1884. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Applegale, Hon. Lindsay, 8 

Beekman, Hon. C. C. 228 

Drain, Mr. and Mrs. Hon. Chas. 432 

Klippel, Henry, 452 

Lane, Gen. Joseph, firontis-piece. 



PORTRAITS. 

Lane, Mrs. Gen. Joseph, 184 
McCall, Gen. J. M., 32 
Owens, Hon. J. F. W., 4' 2 
Plymale, W. J., 68 
Reams, Thos. G., 100 



Ross, Gen. John. E., 176 
Smith, Capt. Thomas, 372 
Tolman, Gen. J. C, 356 
T" Vault, W. G., 296 
Tichenor, Wm., 472 



\ . Benj. C, 12 
Aiken, Andrew G., 16 
Alford, Albert, 20 
Amy, Haskell, 24 
Ashland— Bird's-eye, 352 
Ashland Woolen Mfg. Co., 28 
Barron, II. F., 36 
liattle Rock, 40 
Beall T. F. and R. V., 44 
Blanco Hotel, 48 
Booth, John O., 52 
Brockway, B. B., 56 
Brown, H. G., 60 
Burnett, Jas. D., 64 
Cape Arago Light, 496 
Cape Blanco Light, 72 
Cellers, Joseph, 76 
Chapman, John H., 80 
Constant, Isaac, 84 
Coolidge, Orlando, 88 
Court House, Roseburg, 96 
Court House, Jacksonville, 92 
Coquille Mill and Tug Co., 492 
Crater Lake, 104 
DaMotta, Philip, 108 
Hodge, J. R., 112 
Eagle Mills, 116 
Elkton Mills, 120 
Emmitt, John, 124 
Fullerton, John, 128 
Ganiard, O. V., 136 
Oardiner Mill Co., 132 
Gardner, T. K., 140 
Gates, Henry, 144 
Gazley, J. F., 148 
Gillam, Thos. J., 152 
Grubb, John L., 156 



VIEWS. 

Gurney, Mrs. E., 160 

Gurney Bros., 164 

Hanley, M., 172 

Ish, Mrs. Jacob, 180 

Jacksonville — Bird's-eye, 360 

Jones, Henry, ii§ 

Jones, Joseph, 192 

Lane's (Gen. Jos.) Tomb, 196 

Leeds, Capt. J. B., 200 

Levens, D. A., 204 

Love & Hanley, 168 

Magruder, Constantine, 208 

Map — Coos and Curry Counties, 464 

— Douglas County, 384 

— Jackson County, 308 

— Josephine County, 444 
Marshfield — Bird's-eye, 484 
Marshfield Mills, 212 
Marshfield Church and Academy, 488 
Mark, Frederick, 220 
Masonic Temple, Ashland, 224 
Mathes, Wm. E., 232 
McClellan, D. C, 236 
McClendon, C. C, 240 
Mingus, Conrad, 244 
Moon & Stanley, 248 
Murphy, John, 252 
Myer, W. C, 256 
Nasburg & Hirst, 260 
Nichols, I. B., 264 
Nickell, Charles, 216 
Ocean House, 268 
O. &C. R. R.— Rock Cut, 272 

—Tunnel No. 8, 276 
— S. from Tunnel N0.8, 280 
— Grave Creek Crossing, 284 
Falmer, P.P., 288 



Patterson, Joshua, 292 

Payne, C. T., 300 

Pershbaker, A., 304 

Pelton Bros., 388 

Pickens, E. P., 312 

Plymale, F. M., 316 

Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, 320 

Price, J. W., 324 

Rast, John, 328 

Riddle, T. S., 332 

Roseburg — Bird's-eye, 408 

Roseburg Public School, 336 

Ross, John E., 340 

Sawyers, Andrew, 348 

Sheffield, James F., 364 

Shrum, Thomas, 368 

Simpson Bros., 500 

Singleton, T. J., 376 

Singleton, W. B., 380 

Stanton, H. C, 392 

Stearnes, D. W., 396 

Sutherlin, Fendel, 400 

Taylor, S. C, 404 

Thomas, Richard, 428 

Thornton, S. I., 416 

" Times" Printing House, 216 

Walker, J. P., 420 

Walton & Hayes, 424 

Ward, Frazier, 436 

Weaver, J. W., 440 

Welker, Daniel, 448 

Williams, L. L., Monument, 456 

Willis, Rev. W. A., 460 

Woodruff, A. IL, 468 

Wright, J. W., 476 

Wrisley, J. B., 480 



INDEX 



\ i. ii. II.. 275, 2 7°- 
Abernethy, George, 140, 14S, 150, 160. 
Agriculture, 115. 315. .',04. 
Aguilar, Martin de, 30, river of, 30, 
49. 54. 70. 

Alarcon, Fernando de, explores Colo- 
rado river, 17. 
Alaska, 35, 59, 63, 65, 69, 93, 102. 
Albion, New, 2i, 55, 
Aklen, Capt. B. K., 215. 
Althouse creek, 455-6. 
Allhouse, Philip, 44S, 455. 
Amazons, Isle of, 14. 
Ambrose, Dr. G. H., 202. 
American explorations, 6S, 72, 75, 76, 

92, 11S, 126, 136, 145, 1S6, 301. 
American board of commissioners for 

foreign missions, 12S. 
American Fur Company, 11S, 123, 125, 

129. 
Angell, Martin, killed, 259. 
Anian, Straits of, 13, 19, 22, 28, 35, 

4S, 60, 62, 75. 
Applegate creek, siege of cabins, 259, 

458, 
Applegate trail, 14S, 302-7. 
Applegate, Charles, Jesse and Lindsay, 

143, 148. 302, 349- 
Armstrong, Ben., 215. 
Armstrong, Pleasant, 219. 
Arteaga. voyage of Captain Ignacio, 

62. 
Ashland, 214, 352, 358. 
Ashburton treaty, 141. 
Ashley, .General W. H., 118. 
Astor, John Jacob, 94, 106. 
Astoria, 96, 100, 102, 104, 105, 107. 
Athabaska, lake, 81. 
Augur, Captain U. S. A., 276. 
Avalanche. 389. 

B 
Baffin's bay discovered, 32. 
Baker guards, the, 348. 
Baker, mount, 79. 
Bandon, 489. 
Bates' House, 228. 
Battle Rock, siege of, 471, 473. 
Bear creek, Indian fight on, 214. 
Beaver money, 170. 
Beskman, C. C. 363. 
Behring Straits discovered, 35, 60. 
Benton Senator T. H., 163, 164. 
Berkeley, Capt., re-discovers Straits of 

Fuca, 66. 
Big Bar, 374. 
Big Meadows, 266, Smith's fight at, 

279, 281. 
Bitter-root Mountains, 86, 91. 
Blackburn's Ferry, fight at, 188. 
Blanchet, Revs. F. N. and A. M. A., 

132, 136, 156, 170. 
Blanco, Cape, discovered, 30, 54, 76. 
Bledsoe, Capt., 282. 
Bloody Point Massacre, 204. 
Blue Mountains, 102, 123, 148. 
Bodega y Quadra, J. F. dc, 52, 54. 
Bohemia mines, 392. 
Boise Fort, 125. 

Bonneville, Capt. B. L. E., 123, 125. 
Boundaries of the United States, 47, 84. 



Brow mow n, 455. 

Brouillet, Father J. B. A.. 158, 159. 
Bruce, Major lames, 256, 2S2. 
Bucareli, Port, 54. 
Buccaneers, 20, 22, 32, }^. 
Buchanan, Lieut-Col. U.S.A., 276. 
Buford or Beaufort, James, killed, 272. 
Butte creek, war upon, 258. 



Cabeza-Vaca, N. A. de, 16. 

Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez, 18. 

California Lower, discovery of, 15; 
attempts to colonize, 15, 33; Mis- 
sions, 38; Upper California, first 
exploration, 18; missions, 44. 

Calilornia, Gulf of, 16, 44; population 
of, 46; mines, 169, 170. 

Camas Prairie, 406; valley, 421. 

Camp Leland, 254. 

Camp Stewart, 215. 

Canada, 47. 

Canneries, 488, 489. 

Canyon, emigrant suffering in the, 149. 

Canyonville, 425; 

Carver, Jonathan, 48, 49. 

Cascades of the Columbia, 87. 

Cascade mountains, 148, 387. 

Cascades massacre, 176. 

Casey, Lieutenant-Col. Silas, 200, 474, 

475- 
Catching creek, 486. 
Catholic Missions, 132,135 to 137, 151, 

155, '57- 
Cave fight, the, 233-4. 
Cay use Indians, 89, 130, 152, 153, 

106 to 165. 
Census of 1849, 169. 
Chapman, Lieutenant-Colonel W. YV., 

264-5, 2 68, 
Chetco Indians, 271; description of, 

481 
Chinese, 346. 

Chinook Indians, 78, 87, 104. 
Chipewyan, fort, 81. 
Cibola, fabulous city of, 16, 17. 
Civil Bend, 421. 

Clarke's Fork of the Columbia, 86. 
Clatsop, fort, 87. 
Clearwater river, 86. 
Cleveland, 428. 
Climate, 299. 
Cluggage, James, 359. 
Coal, 394, 493. 
Coats, Onsby and Long murdered, 

205. 
Coast Indians, 271. 
Coast Mail newspaper, 494. 
Coast Range mountains, 389. 
Cockstock killed at Oregon City, 154. 
Cole's valley, 426-7. 
Colorado river, 16, 17, 118, 119, 123. 
Columbia river, 49, 53, 67, 76, 78, 80, 

83, 87, 96, 106, 114. 
Columbia, ship, second voyage of, 76. 
Columbus, Christopher, 10. 
Concomly, Indian chief, 105. 
Conasset, fabulous city of, 27. 
Congregational missions, 128, 132, 151 

to 160. 
Congressional debates, 142, 149, 164 

to 167. 



Cook, Capt. lames, voyage of, 55' 

491. 
( look s inlet, 60, 66. 
Coos, origin of name, 496. 

Bay, 490; discovery of, 491; bar, 

" 7- 

* 1 ios Bay company, 492. 

newspaper, 494. 

Coos county, 483, 499; boundaries of, 
496. 

Copper mines, 457. 

( Coppermine river, 50. 

Coquille massacre, 271-2; river, 484, 
490; Herald, newspaper, 487; Co- 
quille river bar, 490; origin of name, 
496; City, 487. 

Coronado's invasion of Cibolo, 18. 

Cortereal, Caspar de, 13. 

Cortes, Heinando de, 14 to 17. 

Cow creek, murder of miners on, 212; 
disturbances, 257, 258; description, 
etc., 423, 424, 425. 

Cowlitz river, 1 17. 

Carter lake, 308, 31 1. 

Crespi, Father, 45. 

Crowley, Miss M. L., 462. 

Crooks, Ramsey, 100, 103. 

Culver, Indian agent, 271. 

Curry county, war in, 270; description 
and history, 465, 482. 
D 

Dalles, The, 102. 131, 137, 153, 156, 

159- 

Dardanelles, the, 215, 379. 

Dart, Dr. Anson, Indian commissioner, 

474- 
Day, John, 100 to 103. 
Deady, Judge M. P., 221, 363, 366, 

367, 446. 
Deer creek, 452. 
De la Matter mine, 453. 
Demers, Father Modest, 151. 
Denmark, 476. 
DeSmet, Father P. J., 132. 
Destruction island, 53. 
Dilley, murdered at Phoenix, 196. 
Disappointment, Cape, 53, 67, 77, 

78, 87. 
Douglas county, 383, 442; boundaries 

of, 404, 406; statistics, 407, 408. 
Drain, 431, 432. 
Drake, Sir Francis, 20, 22. 

E 
Eagle Point, 376. 
East India Company, 64. 
Edgecumb, Mount, 53, 59, 106. 
Edwards, Edward, 213. 
Edwards, P. L., 127, 131, 132, 1S6. 
Eells, Rev. Cushing, 131, 139. 
Eight Dollar Mt., fight at, 264, 265, 

452, 453- 
Elk creek, 477. 
Elk Head, 441. 
Elkton, 402, 405, 434. 
Ellensburg, 478, 480. 
Ely, Lieutenant Simeon, 217, 218. 
Emigrations, yearly, 137, 143, 147, 148. 
Empire City, 493. 
English explorations, 20, 32, 47, 55 to 

61, 64 to 68, 76 to 81. 
Enos, Indian, 273, 183. 



INDEX. 



Esthei nine, 333 

! f, 2l8, 220. 



ount, 59- 
. 1 !ape Mendocim 1, 18. 
Fields and Cunningham murdered, 240, 

241. 
Fitzgerald, Major, U. S. A., 206, 209, 

Five Crows, Indian chief, 153, 158, 161. 
Flat-head Indians, 127. 
Flattery, Cape, 52, 78. 
Flint, A. K., 402, 403. 
Floras creek, 476. 
Fonte, Admiral de, 27. 
Foot's creek, 1S5, 1S6, 379.- 
Forests, 390. 

Fori I loise, 125. 

Fort Briggs, 452, 454. 

Hall, 125, 137, 138, 148. 
Fort Hays, 452. 
Fort Jones, 209. 
Fort Lamerick, 278. 
Fori Lane, 231. 
Fort Orford, 273. 
I irl Umpqua, 301, 397, 399. 
Fort Vancouver. 114, 115, 124. 
Fort Walla Walla, 123, 129, 137, 156, 

'59. 175. 176. 
Fowler mine, 331-2. 
F'ranciscan missionaries in California, 

43- 
1- raser river. Si. 

Fremont, Lieutenant J. C, 145, 187. 
French explorations, 48, 63. 
Frizzell and Mungo killed, 229. 
Fuca, Straits of Juan de, 23 to 26, 52, 

57. 66, 75, 76, 78. 
Fur trade, 34 to 37, 61, 63, 81, 82, 91, 
93, loo to 104, 106 to 113, 11410 
126. 

G 
Gaines, Governor, treaty with Indians, 

199, 336. 
Galice creek, supposed murder of 
miners at, 208; siege of, 250-1; de- 
scription, 460-1. 
Gama, Yasco de, 1 1. 
Gardiner, 402, 436. 
Geisel family, the, 274, 478-9. 
Geoige, fort, 104, 107. 
Ghent, treaty of, 106. 
Gibbs, A. C. 402. 
Gilliam, Colonel Cornelius, 160, 161, 

163. 
Glendale, 426. 
Gold Beach massacre, 274. 
Gold, discovery of, 169. 

Hill mines, 328, 378. 
Goodall, Capt. lames, 206, 215, 218, 

234. 
Grand Ronde valley, 102, 123; battle 

of, 176. 
Grant's Pass, 3S0. 
Grave creek, 462-3; Indians, 199, 208, 

213. 
Gray, W. II., 129, 131, 139, 145. 
Gray, Capt. Robert, 68, 72, 76. 
Gray's Harbor, 78, 80. 
Great Slave lake, 81. 
Green valley, 439. 
Green river, 11S, 122. 
Griffin, B. B., 216. 

H 
Ilahn, Capt., 385. 
Hall, fort, 125, 137, 13S, 148. 
Harding and Rose killed, 217. 
Harkness killed, 266. 
Harris family, the, 246. 



Hawaiian Islands, 56, 60. 

I [came, explorations of Samuel, 50. 

uno d-, 52, 53. 
Eiedden, Cyrus, 47', 474- 

inn. Dr., 485. 
I h 1 in in \ ill> , 485. 
Hines, Rev. GustaVUS, 132, 1 36, 146, 

Hitchcock, General, I . S. A., 200. 

Hooker, Colonel Joseph, U. S. A.. 

339- 

Horn, Cape, discovered, 32. 

: on's Bay, 13, 32, 47. 
Hudson's Bay Company, 33,50, 81, 

10S to 126, 148, 397, 399. 
Hull, Charles W. killed, 259. 
Humboldt river, 1 19, 122. 
■'Humbug war," 238, 240. 
Hungry II ill, campaign of, 251, 253, 

464. 
Hunt, Wilson P., expedition of, 1 00 to 

103, 105. 

I 

Illinois valley, 451. 

Immigration of 1845, J 37; °f lf ^43> 

143; of 1844, 147. 
Irvin, Lieutenant U. S. A., kidnapped, 

200. 

J 
Jackson county, description of, 306, 

315; history of, 315, 382. 
Jackson creek, 337. 
Jackson Rangers, 349. 
Jacksonville, 359. 
Jesuit missionaries in lower California, 

38, 42. 
Joe, Chief of the Rogue River Indians, 

263. 
Joint occupancy of Oregon, 108, 113, 

126. 
John, Chief of the Applegate Indians, 

190, 216, 217, 279, 281, 284. 
John Day Rivei, 88, 103, 148. 
Jones, Capt., U. S. A., 275. 
Josephine creek, discovered, 447. 
Josephine county, 446. 
judah, Capt. H. M., U. S. A., 233. 
Jump-off-Joe creek, 461. 

K 

Kamiakan. Indian chief, 174, 176. 
Kautz, Lieut. A. V., U. S. A., 221, 

251. 
Kearney, Gen. Philip, 197. 
Keene, Granville, killed, 240. 
Keeney, Captain Jonathan, 261. 
Kelsey, Colonel John, 265. 
Kendrick, Captain John. 68. 
Kerbyville, 453, 454. 
King George III. Archipelago, 53. 
King George Sound Company, 64. 
Kino, Father, 33, 38, 39. 
Klamath Indians, 178. 
Klamath river, 131. 
Klickitat Indians, 183. 
Kyle, James C, killed, 231. 

L 
Labrador, straits of, 13. 
Lamerick, General J. K., 202, 254, 

262, 266, 282. 
Lane, Gen. Joseph, 168, 198, 217, 222. 
La Perouse voyage of, 63. 
Lapwai Mission, 130, 132, 155. 
Latshaw, Major, 281. 
LeBreton, George W., 136, 146, 153, 

154. 
. Ledford massacre, 346, 347. 
Le.lyard, John, efforts to cross the 

Continent, 63. 
Lee, H. A. G., 160. 



Lev, Rev. Jason, 127, 130, 132,136,146. 

Lewis and Clarke's expedition, 85, 92. 
Lewis, ( aptain W. B., 250. 
Lewis river, (see Snake). 
Lewis, Joe, 157 to 159. 
Limestone, 321. 
Long Prairie. 438 

Looking-glass, 417, Indians of, at- 
tacked, 257. 
Loretto, Mission of Our Lady of, 40. 
Lost river fight, 207. 
Lowden's ferry light, 188, 189. 
Louisiana, Province of, 47, 84. 
Lovejoy, A. Lawrence, 139, 150. 
Lower California, colonized, 33. 
Lupton massacre, 243. 

M 
Mackenzie, Alexander, explorations of, 

81, 82; Mackenzie river, 81. 
Magellan, II, 13. 

Maldonado and the Straits of Anian, 22. 
Mandan Indians, 86. 
Marple, P. B., 491. 
Marshall, James W., 169. 
Marshfield, 494, 495. 
Martinez, Estevan, voyages of, 52, 69: 

Nootka controversy, 71. 
Mary's river, (see Humboldt). 
Massacre on October ninth, 1855, 244. 
Maurelle, Antonio voyages of, 52, 6r. 
McBean, William, 159. 
McKay, Alexander, Tom and William 
C, 95, 121, 129, 138, 152, 156, l6l. 
McKinlay, Archibald, 138. 
McLaughlin, Dr. John, 121, 136, 153. 
McLaughlin, Joseph, 122. 
McLeod river, 122. 
McTavish, J. G., 104. 
Meacham, A. B., 207. 
Meadows, first campaign of the, 256; 

second campaign, 266, 269. 
Meares, Captain, voyages of, 58, 65, 

68. 71. 
Med ford, 375. 
Meek, Joseph L. and Stephen H., 133, 

137, 146, 148, 166, 168. 
Mendocino, Cape, discovered, 18. 
Mendoza, Antonio, Viceroy of Mexico, 

16, 18. 
Merchants' and Farmers' Navigation 

Co., 385. 
Methodist missions, 127, 130, 131, 132, 

135 to 137, 151, 154. 
Meteorological tables, 300. 
Miller, Captain John F., 331, 232. 
Mines and Minerals, 321 to 333, 392 

to 394. . 
Missions in California, 38. 
Missions in Oregon, 127 to 133, 151, 

.154- 

Missionaries, 127, 159. 

Missouri Fur Co., 92, 118. 

Missouri river, 86, 91. 

Modocs, 187, 204, 207, 349. 

Molalla Indians, 154. 

Monterey, Bay of, 29, 45. 

Mount St. Elias, 60. 

Multnomah river, 88. 

Murphy's creek, 459; fight at, 280. 

Myrtle creek, 422, 423. 

Myrtle Point, 485. 
N 

Nesmith, J. W., J48, 221, 223. 

New Archangel, 106. 

Nez Perce Indians. 86, 90, 123, 128, 
130, 132, 153. 

Ninth Regiment, 293, 296. 

Nisqually, missions at, 151, 174. 

Niza, Father Marcas de, pretended ex- 
plorations of, 17. 



LNDEX. 



Nolan, Rhodes, 214. 

N ..1 convention, 73, 74. 

Nootka Sound, 51, ;:, 64, 66, ; 

"-■ 
N rth Bend, | 
North Sea, 11. 
N i Umpqua river, 
Northwest Fur 

91, IOO, 107 to 109, I I 3, 1 14. 

o 

Flat, council of, 270. 

IjO. 

. I Ske< : , 1 -'-•. 159. 

see Humboldt). 
t, 52. 
.. 1 O. C, U. S. A., 277. 
:i, first dis i\ 20, 30; 

gin of name, 40. 50. S3: joint oc- 
cupancy, 10S, 113: missions 127 
133; first efforts at self-government, 
|; boundary, 14 1: white popula- 
tion of, in 1S43, 143: subdivided, 
170. 

1 and California railroad. 3S1. 
396. 411. 424, 462. 
a City laid out, 137; Indian fight 
at, 154. 

1 Sentinel, newspaper, 369. 
1 trail, the. 33S, 447. 449, 46!. 
Orford, Cape, 30, 54, 76. 
P 
C Fur Co., 95, 104. 
Pacific Ocean, discovery of, II; early 

explorations, 13. 
Palmer, Joel, 221, 
Palouse river, S7, 103. 
Palouse Indians, 103. 
Pambrun, P. C, 129. 
Parker, Rev. Samuel, 128, 151. 
Parkersburg, 488. 
Peo-peo-mux-mux, Indian Chief, 88, 

•53. 175- 
Perez, voyages of Juan, 51, 52. 
Peters Philip, 400. 
Philip II., orders survey of northwest 

coast, 2S. 
Philippine Islands subdued by Spain, 

19- 
Phillips, Edward, killed, 236. 
Philpot killed, 237, 452. 
Phoenix, 374. 
Pilcher, Major, 122. 
Pioneers, society of, 351. 
Poland, Captain, 273. 
Portala, first governor of California, 44. 
Port Orford, 203, 471, 477. 
Port San Lorenzo, 51. 
Post, newspaper, 480. 
Prim, Judge P. P., 361. 
Prince William's sound, 60, 65, 69 
Printing, first in Oregon, 132. 
Provisional government of Oregon. 

'33. '35. »45- '46. 
Puget Sound Agricultural Co., 170. 
Puget Sound explored, 79. 
Putnam Valley, 438, 439. 

Q 

Quadra, Bodega y, 52, 62, 80. 
Quartz mining, 326, 333, 392, ^03, 

456, 466. 
Queen Charlotte's Island, 51, 79. 
Quicksilver, 321, 393, 394. 
Quivira, Fabulous City of, 31. 

R 
Rainfall, 300. 
Ranier, Mount, 79. 
Randolph, 492; mines of, 489. 
Rawlins, Miss Josephine, 447. 
Recorder, newspaper, 476. 



Red River of the North, 50; settle- 
ments, 109, 134; emigrants, 137. 

Redwood grove. 

Reyes, Rio de l 3 4S, 10, 54, 

Ids, Major U. S. A.. 27a 
Rhoades, Jacob, 215. 

settlement, 257, 420. 
Rice valley, 440. 
Riddle, 424. 

Rinearson, Capt. Jacob, 247, 249. 
Rock Point, 379, 
Rocky mountains, 4S, S5, IlS. 
Rocky Mountain Fur Company, 119, 

122, 123. 
Rogue river. 312, 313. 
Rogue River Indians, 178, 185, 190, 

202, 216, 302, 304, 37S. 
Rollins (see Rawlins.) 
Roseburg, 403, 405, 416. 

.:rg and Coos Hay railway, 396, 

494. 499- 
Ross, General John E., 160, 205, 206, 

213, 220, 234, 249, 251, 328, 345. 

349. 464- 
Russian explorations in the Pacific, 34 

to 38. 
Russian American Trading Company, 

36, 63, 106, 117. 
Ryswick, treaty of, 47. 



Sahaptin river (see Snake.) 

Sailor Diggings (see Waldo.) 

Saint Elias, Mount, discovered, H, 59. 

Salt Lake, Great, IlS. 

Salva-Tierra, Father, 38. 

Sam and Joe, chiefs of the Rogue 

Rivers, 210, 211. 
Sandwich Islands, 56, 60, 6S, 93. 
San Diego mission, 43. 
San Jacinto, Mount, 53. 
San Francisco Bay discovered, 21, 29, 

45- 
San Lorenzo, Port, 5l. 
San Roque, river of, 53. 
Sauvies' island, 88. 
Saskatwchewan river, 81. 
Scott, Capt. Levi. 148, 302, 400, 401. 
Scurvy, sufferings of Spanish explorers, 

18, 29, 30. 
Scottsburg, 385, 401, 402, 435. 
Second regiment, O. M. V., 260, 265, 

286, 292. 
Selkirk's Red River settlements, 109. 
Serra, Father Junipero. 43 to 46. 
Settlements in Oregon, 130, 134, 152. 
Shasta Indians, 178, 189. 
Sheep, 395. 

Simpson, Sir George, 137. 
.">i-.kiyou mountains, 122, 131. 
Siuslaw river, 384, 440. 
Sitka, Alaska, 106. 
Sixes river. 476. 
Skinner, Judge A. A., 150, 199, 202, 

336- 
Slate creek, 459. 
Smith, Capt. A. J., U. S. A., 223, 

233. 239. 277, 279- 
Smith river, 383, 439, 440. 
Smith, Jedediah S., 118, 120, 122, 

184, 399.- 

Snake river, 86, 100, 125. 

South Sea, discovery of, 10. 

South Sea Company, 64. 

Southern Oregon, history and descrip- 
tion of, 297, 499. 

Southern Oregon emigrant road, 148, 
302. 

Southern Oregon Improvement Com- 
pany, 494, 499. 



Spanish explorations, t8, 29, 30,31, 
51, 52. M, 02, 69, 75. 79- 

Spalding, Rev. 11. II., ij<i, 133, 139, 
152, 

Spokane, toil, 103, 104; mission, 132. 
le, Elijah, 201, 202, 203. 

Stevens, < >ov. I. I., 173, 176. 

Stewart, Captain, I". S. A., 197. 

Stepl «, Col l I. 176. 

Stock. 39 \. 

Straits of Anian, 17, 20, 23. 
man, Lieutenant, 475. 

Sucker creek, 544, 455. 

Sumner, 495. 

Suiter, Captain John A., 131, 169. 

Sutton, |. M., 464. 
T 

Table Rocks, the, 377, 37S; reserva" 
tion at, 231. 

Table Rock band, 263. 

Table Rock Sentinel, newspaper (see 
Oregon .Sentinel . ) 

Table Rock treaty, 221, 224. 

Tallent, 380. 

Tam-su-ky, Cayuse chief, 156 to 162. 

Tedford and Rouse attacked by In- 
dians, 224. 

Temperature, 300. 

Ten-mile valley, 419. 

Territorial government of Oregon, 163, 
176. 

Thornton, J. Q., 150, 164, 167. 

Tichenor, Capt. Win., 471, 473, 478. 

Tierra, Father Juan Maria Salva, 39. 

Timber. 390. 

Tipsu Tyee, 201, 211, 2t6, 230, 233. 

Tonquin, ship, 95, 100. 

Toucliet river, 90. 

Townsend, Port, 79. 

Trappers, character of, 125, 126. 

Treaties — Nootka, 73; Ghent, 106; 
Ryswick, 47; Ashburton, 14 1; of 
1846, 149. 

Trinidad, bay of, 52. 

Tukannon river, 87. 

T'Vault, W. G., 197, 369, 370, 372, 

377. 473- 
Tyee George, 347. 

U 
Ugarte, Father Juan, 38, 41. 
Ulloa, Francisco de, explorations of, 

16. 
Umatilla river, S8, 124. 
Umpqua City, 402, 438. 
Umpqua county, 403, 405, 406. 
Umpqua, Fort, 184, 301, 397, 399. 
Umpqua Indians, 178, 182, 183. 
Umpqua river, 21, 30, 117, 119, 184, 
384. 399. 401. 

V 

Vancouver, Capt. George, 74, 81. 
Vancouver Island, 51, 80. 
Vancouver, Fort, 80, 114, 115, 124. 
Viscaino, Admiral Sebastian, 29, 31. 
Vovageurs, 95. 

W 
Wagner, Mrs., killed, 245. 
Wagons first taken to Oregon, 129, 

137, '42. 
Waiilatpu, 130, 138, 152. 
Waldo, called Sailor Diggings, 229, 

456. 457- 
Walker, Rev. E., 131, 139. 
Walker, Capt. Jesse, 235. 
Walla Walla, fort, 123, 129, 137, 156, 

159. 175- 176. 
Walla Walla Indians, 88, 102, 103. 
Waller, Rev., his zeal, 132. 
Willamette Cattle Company, 130, 186. 






- 



INDEX. 



n>o; of 1S53, 214, 232; 
of 1855 6, 244, 296, 

opum Indians, 102, 1 53. 
Washington territory organized, 170, 

•74- 
Western I niversity, 345. 

White, Dr. Elijah, 1 ;;. i5l, 154. 
Whitman, I >r. Marcus, 12S: overland 

journey, 1 37 to 142. 
Whitman massacre, 150, 159. 
Wilkes, Commodore Charles, 136, 1S6, 

301. 
Wilbur, 437. 



Willamette river, 88. 
Williams' creek, 458. 
Williamsburg, 458, 459. 
William-, (apt. M. M„ 265. 
Williams, < ol. K. L., 260, 262. 
Willow Springs, 332, 377: Indian fight 

at, 196. 
Wilderville, 459. 
Wills, Thomas, 213. 
Winchester, 402, 404, 405, 408, 432. 
Winchester, Payne & Co., 401. 
Winchuck river, 481. 
Winnipeg settlements, 109. 



Wolf meeting, the, 145. 
Woodman, Calvin, murder of, 201 
Woodville, 380. 

Wool, General John E., 175, 275. 
Wright, Gen. 203, 272, 274. 
Wright, Co). George, 176. 
Wyeth, Nathaniel J., 123, 125, 129. 

Y 
Yakima Indians, 174-5-6. 
Vellept, Chief, 88. 
Yellowstone river, 86; 91. 
Yoncalla, 401, 433. 
Young, Ewing, 123, 130, 135, 186 



PACIFIC COAST. 



( 1IAPTER I. 

DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC 

Prehistoric— The New World Divided between Spain and Portugal — Discovery of the South Sea Voyage cf 
Magellan— Naming the Pacific— Cortereal and the Straits of Anian. 

Intense gloom enshrouds the history of the Pacific coast prior to the sixteenth 
century. The investigations of the geologist have revealed how the great inland arms 
of the ocean gradually became land-locked seas whose receding waters left behind the 
deposit of alluvium brought down from the mountains by the thousands of small 
streams pouring into them, by which process were evolved the great fertile valleys 
whose names have become the synonyms of abundance ; but of its history they are 
sileut. The patient researches of the archaeologist have here and there cast a faint ray 
of light into the encircling gloom, but the fleeting outlines thus momentarilv revealed 
re but to confuse the mind and render more intense the deep shadow hanging over 
all. What races of human beings have acted here the great drama of life, their wars, 
customs, manner of living, religious beliefs and the degree of civilization they attained, 
are all hidden by an impenetrable veil. Here and there a voiceless skeleton disen- 
t" imbed from its resting place for centuries far beneath the verdant carpet of the earth 
it once trod, silently points to ages long before the stony lips of the Sphynx were 
carved or the mightv Atlantis sunk beneath the seething billows of a convulsed ocean; 
yet of those ages it reveals naught but the simple fact of their existence. 

Rude monuments of rocks and mounds of earth, a few rough carvings in the 
rocky walls of towering cliffs and crude paintings on the surface of huge stones, ob- 
jects of superstitious awe and reverence to the simple natives, speak of races now 
passed away, of whom the aborigines of to-day know nothing except the faint allusion 
made to them in the legends of their ancestors. These traditions also speak of the 
presence long years ago of a race of pale faced people who visited these shores in 
ship-, yet so intangible are they that scarcely a theory can be founded upon them; 
certainly nothing positive can be proved. That the Chinese or the Tartars in the 
years of their great warlike strength and foreign conquests may have visited the west- 
ern coast of America is far from improbable ; in fact archaeologists have discovered 
many evidences of such visits in the crumbled ruins of Mexico, Central America and 
Peru, and in the customs and religious ceremonies of the people whom the conquering 



l0 PACIFIC COAST. 

swordsof Cortes and Pizarro so ruthlessly slaughtered; but Oregon and Washington 
offer but little testimony either to confirm or confute the theory. It is quite possible, 
and even probable, that the traditions referred to had their rise in the visits of the 
early Spanish explorers. Leaving these mysteries to be revealed by the investigations 
of the future, let us step from out the shadow upon the lighted plain of authentic 

record. 

Immediately upon the return of Columbus in the spring of 1493, with the start- 
ling intelligence that he had reached India in his voyage westward, for such was his 
belief at that time, the Spanish sovereigns applied to the Pope, who then arrogated to 
himself not only the spiritual but the temporal sovereignty of the universe, for special 
grants and privileges in all lands thus discovered. Formerly the head of the church 
had bestowed upon Portugal, which had for a century past been the foremost nation 
in making voyages of exploration and discovery, sovereign rights in the south and 
east, similar to those Spain now desired in the west. With an arrogance such as none 
hut the ruler of a universe can display and a munificence to be expected only from one 
bestowing that which he does not possess or which costs him nothing, the successor of 
Peter and God's representative upon earth drew a line from pole to pole across the 
globe one hundred leagues west of the Azores, and assigned to Portugal all newly-dis- 
covered lands lying east of it and to Spain all' lying to the westward. This partition 
was unsatisfactory to ambitious Portugal, and after two years of wrangling the obliging 
Pope moved his dividing line 270 leagues farther west. 

Though the Portuguese were obedient to the Pontiff's decree and left Spain in un- 
disputed possession of all its western discoveries, not ceasing, however, to make many 
voyages of exploration, this was far from being the case with the English. The 
sovereigns of that " tight little isle" were wont to be very independent in their conduct, 
and had been accustomed for some time to show little respect for the temporal au- 
thority of the Pope when it conflicted too strongly with their personal, political or 
territorial interests. It can well be imagined, then, that this partition of the undis- 
covered world into equal portions between Spain and Portugal did not deter England 
from making voyages of discovery to the new world and claiming sovereign rights over 
all lands explored, a claim which neither the Pope nor his two pet subjects dared to 
dispute. Following in the footsteps of her island neighbor and immemorial enemy, 
France, and Holland also, ignored the papal bull and in later years grasped eagerly 
after their share of the prize. 

And what was this land towards which the eyes of the great nations of Europe 
were turned ? It was, as they supposed, the west coast of India, the wonderful island 
of Zipango and the fabulously wealthy land of Cathay described by Marco Polo. 
Here was to be found the "gold of Ophir" which had enriched the kingdom of the 
mighty Solomon, diamonds and precious stones in abundance, and the fountain of per- 
petual youth. Imagination and legend had peopled it with wonderful nations and 
cities and had stored it with a wealth of precious stones and metals such as the known 
portions of the globe never possessed. Love of dominion and cupidity, that great 
ruling power in human nature, led them forward in the contest. 

From 14*. >2 to 1513, when Yasco Nunez gazed from the mountains upon the vast 
"South Sea," many voyages of discovery were made, and the Atlantic coast of America 



PACIFIC COAST. 11 

was explored bj the Spanish. Portuguese and English navigators from sunny Brazil as 
far north as the Lcyshores of Labrador. These voyages bad satisfied geographers thai 
not the hnlia ^\' the east, buf a new continent, probably a greal eastern extension of 

Asia, had boon found by Columbus, and that this must he crossed or circumnavigated 
before reaching the hoarded treasures of Cathay, [ndeed as early as 1498 Vasco de 
Grama, a Portuguese, reached India, by sailing eastward around the Cape of Good Hope, 
and it was plainly evident thai between that point (Calcutta) and the Parthesl point 
yet readied to the westward lay many wide leagues of land and water, unexplored and 
unknown. The idea prevailed that a great sea existed to the southwest beyond this 
new land of America, an idea which was strengthened and supported by statements of 
the natives carried as slaves to Europe in every returning vessel, and, indeed, several 
efforts had been made to pass into this unknown sea by going southward along the 
coast of America. The title of "America" had been applied to the southern half of 
our continent which was at first supposed to be separate and distinct from the northern 
half, or Asia, as it was believed to be. 

It was a quiet day in September, 1513, that Vasco Nunez de Balboa gazed from 
the mountain tops of Central America upon the sleeping waters of the Pacific, upon 
which the eye of a Caucasian then rested for the first time. Having crossed the nar- 
row isthmus joining the two Americas from his starting point at the Spanish settle- 
ment of Antigua on the gulf of Uraba, he was guided by a native to a point from 
which he saw the unknown ocean glistening in the sun far beneath him. As at that 
point the isthmus runs east and west, the Atlantic beating against its shores on the 
north and the Pacific lapping its sandy beach on the south, he christened the latter the 
•• South Sea," while the Atlantic was by way of contrast named the "North Sea;" 
though this latter title was soon transferred to a supposed ocean lying north of Amer- 
ica, separated from the South sea by a narrow isthmus similar to that of Panama, and 
connected with it by a short strait, as will appear further on. 

The announcement that this great "South Sea" actually existed led to increased 
exertions to discover a route by which vessels could pass around America and traverse 
the unknown ocean in search of the Indies. It soon became evident that America 
united with the supposed land of Asia lying north of it to form a either new continent 
hitherto entirely unknown, or a great southeastern extension of Asia equally a stranger 
to geography. Exertions to discover the supposed southern passage to the great South 
sea were then redoubled, and in five years were crowned with complete success. A 
Portuguese navigator, a native of Oporto, but sailing under the Spanish flag, commanded 
the first vessel that plowed Pacific waters, and to this expedition is due the further 
honor of making the first complete navigation of the globe, proving conclusively what 
all geographers of the time had learned to believe, that the world was round and could 
be encompassed by the traveler by going either east or west. The name of this cele- 
brated navigator, wdiose voyage was second only to the one made by Columbus in 1492 
in the knowledge it revealed of the earth's geography, w T as Ferdinando de Magalhaens, 
spelled Magallanes by the Spaniard- and by English authors given as Magellan. He 
had made several voyages for Portugal via the Cape of Good Hope, but becoming dis- 
satisfied had left his native land and entered the service of Spain, to again attempt for 
that nation the effort of reaching the east by sailing westward. His special destination 



12 PACIFIC COAST. 

was the Moluccas, then claimed by Spain, and to aid him on his voyage lie possessed a 
chart upon which was designated a passage into the South sea; but instead of the open 
sea which it actually is, this chart exhibited a narrow strait piercing the body of the 
southern half of America. The origin of this chart and the authority for marking 
upon it such an utterly incorrect geographical feature, are unknown; but the proba- 
bilities arc that the chart embraced the idea of some geographer as to what the nature 
of the desired passage into the South sea must be, and was founded solely upon theory. 
Thai this was probably the ease is supported by the fact that a somewhat similar pass- 
age was supposed to lead through North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 
tact it took nearly three centuries to prove the Straits of Anian to be utterly fabulous 
and mythical. 

( )n the twentieth of September, 1519, Magellan sailed from San Lucar with five 
vessels and 265 men, reached Rio de Janeiro on the Brazilian coast December 13, and 
coasted thence to the southward, carefully exploring every promising bay and inlet. 
When he reached the broad estuary of the Rio de la Plata, he thought surely the long- 
sought strait had been discovered, but all efforts to pass through the continent by that 
route were completely unsuccessful. There was no passage through the huge rocky 
wall of the Andes. Abandoning the attempt he sailed again southward, reaching Port 
St. Julian, about 49° south latitude, on the thirty-first of March, where he remained 
five months. August 24, 1520, he again resumed his search, and on the twenty-first 
of October reached Cabo de las Yirgenes, at the entrance of the long-sought straits, 
having lost one vessel by shipwreck and one by desertion. With the remaining three 
he passed through, naming the land to the southward " Terre del Fuego," because of 
the many fires seen burning there. Upon the strait itself he bestowed the title " Yi- 
torio," the name of one of his ships, though it has always properly been known 
as the Straits of Magellan. His passage through them of thirty-six days was a tem- 
pestuous and dangerous one, and when his vessel's prow cleaved the waters of the great 
un plowed sea on the twenty-seventh of November, the contrast between its quiet and 
smiling waters and the foam-lashed breakers of the tortuous strait was so great and so 
suggestive that he bestowed the name Pacific upon it. This circumstance and title are 
recorded in an account of the voyage written in Italian by Antonio Pigafretta, after- 
ward Caviliere di Rhodi, who accompanied the great explorer. 

Immediately upon entering the Pacific ocean Magellan steered to the northwest to 
reach a warmer climate, crossed the line February 13, 1521, arrived at the Ladrones 
March 6, and at the Philippines on the sixteenth of the same month. Here he was 
killed in a battle with the natives April 27, and the survivors of the expedition, num- 
bering 115 men, continued the voyage under the leadership of Caraballo. They 
touched at Borneo and other islands, and reached the goal of their voyage, the Moluc- 
cas, on the eighth of November. One of the vessels, the Vitorio, in command of Se- 
bastian del Cano, sailed again westward from the Moluccas, rounded the Cape of Good 
Hope, and reached San Lucar September 6, 1522, with only eighteen survivors of the 
265 who started upon the expedition, having been gone three years and accomplished 
the first complete circumnavigation of the globe. The new ocean was variously known 
for a number of years as South sea, Magellan's sea and Pacific ocean, the last title 
gradually superseding the others until it became universal. 



PACIFIC coast L3 

This wonderful voyage naturally altered the popular idea of the new land which 
Columbus had discovered. The vast extent of the Pacific ocean and its apparently 
unlimited stretch to the northward convinced the map makers thai their former idea 
was erroneous, and that the new land, or " Novus Mundus" as the oame appears on 
many ancient maps, could not possibly be an ('astern extension of Asia. They then 
came t<> believe that America and Novus Mundus were united by the [sthmusof Pan- 
ama to form an entirely new continent, and that the true Asia lay still further to the 
wesl across the new ocean. The direct and natural result of this idea was a belief that 
a passage into the Pacific could be discovered by sailing around the north end of No- 
vus Mundus as easily as Magellan had found one b}' going to the southward of America. 
In fact such a passage as this vras supposed to have been diseovered in the year 1500 
by the Portuguese navigator, Gaspar Cortereal, the first explorer of the coastof Labra- 
dor, lie passed through a strait into a sea which he believed and reported to be con- 
nected with the Indian ocean. This mistaken idea was not so proven until modern 
explorers demonstrated the fact that no such passage exists south of the ice-bound 
waters of the Arctic ocean. He had in fact passed through the straits and entered 
the bay afterwards entered and named by Hudson in his own honor. Upon the maps 
for many years straits of this character, leading indefinitely westward, were marked 
and called Straits of Labrador until their extent and the character of the sea into 
which they led were revealed by the later explorations of Hudson and others. The 
name Cortereal bestowed upon them, however, was Straits of Anian, though what was 
the significance of the title has never been satisfactorily explained. The Straits of 
Anian seemed in later years to become entirely disassociated in the minds of explorers 
from the Straits of Labrador or Hudson, and the universal idea of them seems to have 
been that of a narrow" passage from sea to sea, between the continents of America and 
Asia. What caused this peculiar notion it is impossible to state, and the supposed 
passage is now universally referred to by historians as the "Fabulous Straits of Anian." 
To find it the English, French and Spanish searched diligently along the Atlantic 
coast, while the Spaniards, alone, sailing northward from the Pacific coast of Mexico, 
explored along our western shore for more than two centuries before the belief in its 
existence was finally abandoned. 

Leaving the former and the results of their voyages to be referred to briefly" further 
on. let us turn our attention to those voyages in the Pacific which made known to the 
world the geography of the northern Pacific coast. 



CHAPTER II. 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN THE NORTHWEST. 

Cortes Conquers Mexico and Turns his Eyes towards California— He Hopes to Reach the Indies by following 
the Coast California Discovered by Ximenes— Cortez Undertakes its Conquest— Tale of the Florida Refu- 
gees Voyage of Ulloa Wonderful Story of Friar Marcas- Coronado seeks Cibola and Quivira— Voyage 
of Cabrillo and Ferrelo. 

Immediately following the first discoveries by Columbus, Spain began to plant 
colonies in the West India islands. Her enlightened sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella, proposed to open at once the great storehouse of wealth this new land was popu- 
larly supposed to be. Gold and jeAvelswere procured from the natives by every possi- 
ble means, including cheating in trade and conquest by the sword, and sent back to 
enrich the mother country. The same year that saw Magellan set sail upon his voyage 
around the globe, witnessed the inauguration of another enterprise fraught with great 
results to the future of America. Hernando de Cortes entered Mexico with the sword 
in one hand and bible in the other, bent upon winning riches and power for himself 
and His Most Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, and impressing upon the heathen 
Aztecs the beauties of the Christian religion with musketry and cannon. The details 
of his bloody conquest it is needless to relate. 

Having subjugated Mexico and overturned in blood the throne of the Montezumas, 
Cortes looked westward for more countries to subdue and plunder of their accumu- 
lated wealth. On the fifteenth of October, 1524, he wrote to Spain's most powerful 
monarch, Charles Y, that he was upon the eve of entering upon the conquest of Co- 
liina, a country bordering on the South sea (Pacific ocean), and that the great men 
there had given him information of "an island of Amazons, or women only, abound- 
ing in pearls and gold, lying ten days' journey from Colima." Though Colima is the 
name of one of the present states of Mexico, there is but little doubt that Cortes re- 
ferred to Lower California. This was the opinion of Miguel Venengas, who wrote in 
1749 : " The account of the pearls inclines me to think that these were the first inti- 
mations we had of California and its gulf." 

The idea held by Cortes was that possessed by geographers generally, that Amer- 
ica, if not an actual portion of Asia, into which the Pacific projected a long distance 
northward, was at least separated from that ancient continent simply by a narrow 
-trait; and this idea, though founded simply upon theory, was wonderfully correct. 
It was his plan to sail northward, along the coast until the Straits of Anian were 
encountered, or failing in that, to continue ^westward and southward until he reached 
the rich lauds of India. The fatal defect in this theory was in not ascribing to the 
Pacific ocean .and the American continent the magnificent proportions they were in 
after years found to possess. 



PACIFIC COAST. 15 

At the time Cortes w rote his Letter the Pacific coasl had been several times explored 
from the Isthmus of Panama as far northward as 350 leagues from that point. In 
1522 he began the construction of several vessels al Zacatula to carry oul his ideas, 
and in 1526 they were joined by a vessel which had come through the Straits of 
Magellan. In 1527 three of these vessels were completed and made a short voyage 
along the coasl ; bul orders came from Spain to ^vwd them to India by a direct route 
across the ocean instead of the Long way along the coast proposed by Cortes. Other 
ships were begun at Teluiantepec, hut rotted on the stocks while the great conqueror 
was in Spain. In 1530 lie began the construction of others. Finally, in 15:5:2, he 
dispatched two vessels from Acapulco, reaching as far north as Sinaloa, both being 
wrecked at different points, and their commanders and all but a few of the men slain 
by the natives. The next year two more vessels were dispatched from Teluiantepec, 
one of which accomplished nothing. The crew of the other one mutinied and killed 
their commander, Becerra, and continued the voyage under the pilot, Fortuilo Xim- 
enes, landing upon the extreme southern point of the peninsula of California, in 1534, 
where Ximenes and twenty of his men were slain in an encounter with the natives. 
The survivors succeeded in navigating the vessel back to the main land, where it was 
seized by Nufio de Guzman, the governor of Northern Mexico. He was a bitter 
enemy of Cortes, and his rival in covering the advancing pathway of civilization with 
a carpet of blood. 

To resent this insult, Cortes sent three vessels northward by sea, and started him- 
self, by land, at the head of a considerable body of trooj)s. He changed his intention, 
however, and embarking a large portion of his force upon the vessels which had met 
him at Chiametla, he set sail for the new country discovered to the west by Ximenes, 
which w r as said to abound in the finest of pearls. On the third of May, 1535, his 
little squadron came to anchor in the bay where the mutineers had met their fate the 
year before, and in honor of the day, which was that of the Holy Cross in the Koman 
Catholic calendar, he bestowed upon it the name of Santa Cruz. This was probably 
the one now known as Port La Paz. To this body of land the name of California 
was soon after given, though by whom, for what reason and what is the significance 
of the title remain perplexing questions to the present day, and this name gradually 
expanded in its application until in after years it signified the entire Spanish pos- 
sessions on the Pacific coast, that portion above the mouth of the Colorado being 
known as Alta California. 

Cortes landed upon this barren and inhospitable coast with 130 men and forty 
horses, with visions of conquest floating before his mind. He hoped to find in this 
new country another Mexico to yield its vast stores of gold, pearls and ornaments into 
his bloody hands. Two of his vessels were at once sent to Chiametla for the remain- 
der of his troops, and returned with but a portion of them. They were again dis- 
patched upon the same errand, one only returning, the other having gone to the bot- 
tom of the sea. Cortes then went to the Mexican coast in person, returning to Santa 
Cruz just in time to rescue those he had left there from death by starvation. More 
than a year's time had now been fruitlessly squandered, and explorations inland had 
revealed the fact that the land was utterly barren and worthless. With the exception 
of a few pearls on the coast, the Spaniards had found nothing to tempt their cupidity, 



L6 PACIFIC COAST. 

the great controlling power which bound them together and made them subservient to 
discipline. Many had died and the remainder were mutinous. In the meantime the 
wife of Cortes, hearing of his ill success, sent a vessel to Santa Cruz with letters, im- 
ploring him to abandon his enterprise and return. News came at the same time that 
a Spanish uobleman of high rank, Don Antonio de Mendoza, had been appointed to 
supersede him as viceroy of New Spain, and had already installed himself in office in 
the city of Mexico. He hastened to the mainland, leaving a portion of his forces 
still al Santa Cruz, under the command of Francisco de Ulloa; but finding his author- 
ity in New Spain entirely gone and being much embarrassed financially by the ex- 
penses of Ins unprofitable venture, he sent word to Ulloa to return, and in 1537 the 
sandy deserts of Lower California were abandoned by the ragged remnant of that 
little army of adventurers who had entered it with such high hopes two years before. 

About this time there arrived in Mexico four wandering refugees whose story had 
much to do with the nature of explorations for the next few years. They were Alvaro 
Nunez de Cabeza-Vaca, two other Spaniards and a Negro or Moor. They had landed 
in Florida in ir>27 with a plundering expedition that invaded that portion of the 
coast under Panfilo Narvaez. The company was almost exterminated by shipwreck, 
famine and battle, and these four survivors wandered for nine years through the inter- 
ior of the region bordering upon the gulf until they finally arrived in Mexico. They 
had encountered no civilized or wealthy nations in their long journey, but had been 
informed, at various places, of populous countries inhabited by rich and civilized 
races further to the northwest. 

Mendoza was moved by these stories to invade the northwest. It was the civilized 
nations the Spaniards were eager to subdue ; not because their conquest afforded them 
more honor in a military sense, for their warfare was but a series of bloody butcheries 
of unwarlike races whose undisciplined and unprotected masses, armed simply with 
spears, were mowed clown like grain by the cannon, musketry and steel of the mailed 
warriors of Spain ; but because these civilized nations possessed the great stores of 
gold and precious jewels which were the loadstone that drew these representatives of 
European chivalry to the New World. The viceroy organized a body of fifty horse- 
men for the purpose of invading this new country, and then abandoned the idea, send- 
ing, instead, two friars and the Moor to explore and report the true facts of the case 
before he ventured upon more extensive efforts. 

They departed in March, 1539, and on the eighth of the following July, Cortes, who 
still claimed the right of exploration into the unknown ocean and government over 
all lands discovered, having again equipped three vessels, sent them from Acapulco 
under the command of Ulloa. One of these was soon wrecked in a severe storm, and 
the other two proceeded to Santa Cruz bay and then coasted along Lower California 
and Mexico, completely around the gulf that lies between them, failing, however, to 
notice the mouth of the great Colorado river. This voyage settled many geographi- 
cal questions, and the gulf was named by Ulloa the Sea of Cortes, though it was gen- 
erally marked on Spanish maps as the Vermilion sea, and on those of other nations as 
the Gulf of California. On the twenty-ninth of October, of the same year, Ulloa again 
sailed from Santa Cruz, whither he had returned at the conclusion of his last voyage, 
and sought to examine the coast westward as he had to the east. Passing around the 



. 




PACIFIC COAST. 17 

cape, now called Sun Lucas, he sailed slowly northward until about the firsl of Feb- 
ruary, L540, he reached an island near the coast in latitude 28 , which he named Isle 

of Cedars. Headwinds and sickness held him here until April, and then the same 

cause-, coupled with a lack of provisions, compelled him to abandon his purpose of 
proceeding further northward. 

This voyage attracted but little attention, so absorbed were the mercenary adven- 
turers in Mexico in the report of Friar Marcas de Xi/.a of the wonderful things dis- 
covered by him and his companions in the new region whither they had been sent by 
Mendo/a. 

From these accounts, as contained in the letter addressed to the viceroy by Father 
Marcas, and from other evidence, it is probable that the reverend explorer did really 
penetrate to a considerable distance into the interior of the continent, and did find 
there countries partially cultivated, and inhabited by people possessing some acquaint- 
ance with the arts of civilized life; though as to the precise situation of those regions, 
or the routes pursued in reaching them, no definite idea can be derived from the 
narrative. The friar pretended to have discovered, northwest of Mexico, beyond the 
thirty-fifth degree of latitude, extensive territories, richly cultivated, and abounding in 
gold. silver,and precious stones, the population of which was much greater, and further 
advanced in civilization, than those of Mexico or Peru. In these countries were many 
towns, and seven cities, of which the friar only saw one, called Gevola or Cibola, con- 
taining twenty thousand large stone houses, some of four stories, and adorned with 
jewels ; yet he was assured, by the people, that this was the smallest of the cities, and 
tar inferior, in extent and magnificence, to one called Totonte<ic, situated more towards 
the northwest. The inhabitants of Cibola had, at first, been hostile to the Spaniards, 
and had killed the Xegro ; but they had, in the end, manifested a disposition to em- 
brace Christianity, and to submit to the authority of the King of Spain, in whose 
name Friar Marcas had taken possession of the whole country, by secretly erecting 
crosses in many places. 

Such was the account of the worthy friar, but the reverend gentleman drew en- 
tirely too long a bow. That such a civilization could have existed there in the six- 
teenth century and have completely disappeared from view by the eighteenth, is too 
improbable to be credited. The ancient ruins of Arizona and New Mexico and the 
customs and traditions of the Zuni and Moquis Indians, confirm the opinion that a 
semi-civilized race inhabited that region centuries ago ; but nothing has been discov- 
ered pointing to such dense population, cities of " twenty thousand large stone houses," 
or such wealth and civilization as the friar claimed to have observed. The probability 
is that, encountering a semi-civilized race, and desiring to spread among them the 
beauties of the Christian religion, he told these exaggerated stories to the viceroy in 
order to induce him to invade and subdue this new country, for in those days the 
pathway for the bible was hewn by the sword. Related by a respectable priest who 
claimed to have himself witnessed the wonders he portrayed, the story was fully cred- 
ited, and Mendoza sent a combined land and sea expedition to reconnoitre and open 
the way for a complete conquest of this great nation. 

The marine portion, under the command of Fernando de Alarcon, sailed from 
Santiago May 9, 1540, and discovered and entered the Colorado river in August, which 



18 PACIFIC COAST. 

was then named Rio de Nuestra Soiiora de Buena Guia, in honor of the viceroy, whose 
shield bore the above inscription. Alarcon ascended the stream in boats a distance of 
eighty leagues, inquiring diligently for the seven great cities. From the Indians he 
received many confusing accounts of wonderful riches and remarkable objects to be 
found in the interior, accounts no doubt similar to those which had been the founda- 
tion of Friar Marcas' wonderful tale. Completely baffled he returned to Mexico. 

The land forces, consisting of cavalry, infantry and priests, a perfect complement 
for the conversion of stubborn heathen, were under the command of a resolute soldier 
named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, a man intensely practical and unaccustomed 
to drawing upon his imagination when relating facts. After traversing many miles of 
desert and mountain they reached a country for which Cibola appeared to be the gen- 
eral name, though it was found to be entirely devoid of the refinement and riches 
reported by Friar Marcas. The seven cities proved to be seven small villages, thinly 
inhabited by a race but little removed from a savage state. The climate was agreeable 
and the soil very fertile. Large stone houses, rudely built and unornamented, were 
found, which were later called cases grandes de los Aztequcs (great houses of the Az- 
tecs) by the Spanish settlers, upon the theory that they had been erected by the Aztecs 
while living in that region prior to their invasion of Mexico. Coronado left Cibola in 
disgust and proceeded further towards the northwest, wandering for two years hither 
and thither in search of the many fabulously rich countries the Indians were con- 
stantly informing him were to be found somewhere else. Quivira in particular was 
the object of great solicitude because of the reported wealth of its monarch ; but when 
he reached it in latitude 40°, it proved to be a buffalo country and its inhabitants sim- 
ply a race of hunters. If the latitude is correct, he must have penetrated as far north 
as the Platte or headwaters of the Arkansas. He returned to Mexico in 1543 with 
his faith in Indian stories shaken to its foundation stones. 

The next effort to explore the western coast was made in 1542, when Mendoza dis- 
patched Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo with two vessels in search of the Straits of Anian. 
Cabrillo examined the coast as far north as the 38th degree of latitude, when he was 
driven back by a storm and forced to take refuge in a harbor called by him Port Pos- 
session, in the island of San Bernardino, in latitude 34°. Here he "died January 3, 
1543, and the pilot, Bartolome Ferrelo, took command and resumed the voyage north- 
ward. He discovered near latitude 41° a cape which he named Cabo de Fortunas (Cape 
of Perils), being no doubt the one subsequently named Mendocino in honor of the 
viceroy, Mendoza. The furthest point northward reached by Ferrelo on the first of 
March, 1540, is given by some authorities as 44° and others 43°, either of which 
would be off the coast of Oregon ; and to this little vessel-load of adventurous men, 
half clothed, living upon short allowance of food, and afflicted with scurvy, must be 
given the credit of making the first discovery of the coast of Oregon, the prize for 
which great nations disputed for centuries. 



CHAPTER III. 

SEARCH FOR THE MYTHICAL STRAITS OF ANIAN. 

Spain Abandons the Effort — Growth of the East India Trade — Voyage of Sir Francis Drake— The Bay of San 
Francisco — Rev. Fletcher's Romances — Other Freebooters Invade the Pacific — Maldonado's Description of 
the Straits of Anian— Voyage of Juan -de Fuca — Its Authenticity Discussed — Admiral Fonte's Voyage— Rio 
de los Reyes. 

The return of Ferrelo from his voyage along the coast, of Coronaclo from his ex- 
plorations inland, and of the few survivors of DeSoto's expedition through Florida to 
the Mississippi, conclusively proved that " neither wealthy nations nor navigable pas- 
sages of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, were to be found north 
of Mexico, unless beyond the 40th parallel of latitude." Having established this 
fact, the Spaniards desisted from their attempts to explore to the northwest of Mexico, 
or to search for the Straits of Anian. The fact was that the discovery of such a pas- 
sage between the two oceans was now looked upon as undesirable by them, in view of 
the valuable trade they had established with the east. 

From being the most energetic in searching for the Straits of Anian, the Span- 
iards suddenly became extremely apathetic to outward appearance, but were by no 
means so actually. Their interest in that supposititious passage was as lively as ever, 
and they were now even more anxious that it should not be discovered at all than they 
had formerly been to find it. The reason for this change of ideas is very simple. 

Spain was now the complete master of Central America, Mexico and the West 
India islands, which formed an important and almost vitally necessary intermediate 
station between Europe and the Indies, a point of advantage which no other nation 
possessed. While she was securing this important foothold in the New World, Portugal 
had bent her energies upon opening a trade with the Indies by way of the Cape of 
Good Hope, and had succeeded in establishing a most valuable commerce with that 
rich and populous region, which Spain viewed with envious eyes. She turned her 
attention from the coast of America, and dispatched several armed fleets across the Pa- 
cific to obtain lodgment in the Indies. After several unsuccessful attempts the Phil- 
ippine islands were subjugated in 1564, and the practicability of crossing the Pacific 
in both directions, which had at first been doubted because all efforts to return had 
been made in the region of the trade winds, established beyond cavil. In a few years 
Spain's commerce on the Pacific became extremely important. Annually large vessels 
sailed from Central America with gold and merchandise, which were^bartered for 
spices, silks and porcelain in the Philippine islands and China. These were landed at 
the Isthmus of Panama and transported across to vessels in waiting 1 , to convey them to 
Spain. A large trade was also carried on along the coast to Peru and Chili. 



20 I'VCIFIC COAST. 

Exemption from interference by rival nations was the secret of the immense 
growth of this [ndia trade. The annual galleon from India was loaded with a cargo 
of immense value, and yel the ship bore no armament for defense. No flag but that 
of Spain fluttered over Pacific waters, and there was no need of cannons. It was in 
expectation of this condition of affairs that Spain ceased her efforts to find the Straits 
of Anian. The discovery of such a passage would be most calamitous. Through it 
could come hostile ships of war and the freebooters who were wont in those days to 
roam the high seas in search of plunder, and prey upon the defenseless commerce of 
the Pacific. The length and precarious nature of the voyage into the Pacific through 
i he Straits of .Magellan, served to keep that ocean for many years free from hostile 
ships. 

This exemption from outside interference could not last forever. Spain arro- 
gantly claimed dominion over and the exclusive right of trade with all regions that 
had been even technically discovered by Spanish navigators, even if no settlement of 
any kind had been attempted. Foreigners of all nations were prohibited under pain 
of death, from having any intercourse whatever with the territories claimed by the 
Castilian monarch, or from navigating the waters adjacent to them. To such pre- 
sumptuous conduct as this neither England nor France would submit. They willingly 
respected all rights of dominion acquired by actual settlement, but this sweeping claim 
to exclusive control of almost the entire New World they would not countenance for an 
instant. The result was that English, French and Dutch "free traders" made sad 
havoc with the Spanish shipping on the Atlantic coast of America ; and though the 
nations were at peace, these plundering expeditions were winked at by the sovereigns, 
who often directly and always indirectly received their share of the booty. 

These roving marauders made great exertions to discover a northern passage into 
the Pacific, urged on by the reports constantly received of the wonderful richness of 
the East Indian commerce of Spain. These reports at last overcame the fears of 
English seamen, and they invaded the Pacific by the passage of Magellan's tempestu- 
ous straits. 

There was one bolder and more reckless, more ambitious and successful than the 
others, who won the reputation of being the " King of the Sea." In 1578, he thus 
passed into the Pacific with three vessels, and scattered terror and devastation among 
the Spanish shipping along the coast. He captured the East Indian galleon, on her 
way home loaded with wealth, levied contributions in the ports of Mexico, and, finally, 
with his one remaining vessel freighted with captured treasures, sailed north to search 
for the Straits of Anian. Through it he proposed passing home to England, and thus 
avoid a combat with the fleets of Spain, that lay in wait for him off the Straits of 
Magellan. His name was Captain Francis Drake; but afterwards the English mon- 
arch knighted him for becoming the most successful robber on the high seas, and now 
the historian records the name as Sir Francis Drake. When near the mouth of Ump- 
qua river, in Oregon, he ran his vessel into a "poor harbor," put his Spanish pilot, 
Morera, ashore, and left him to find his way back, thirty-five hundred miles, through 
an unknown country thickly populated with savages, to his home in Mexico. This 
feat must have been accomplished, as the only account existing of the fact comes 
through Spanish records, showing that he survived the expedition to have told the 



r.u'irit io.\s| 21 

result Drake then continued bis voyage until be bad reached about latitude 
13 . when the cold weather, although it was after the fifth of June, Forced bim to 
abandon the hope of discovering the mythical straits. The chaplain who accompanied 
the expedition, being the historian of the voyage, -ays of the cold, thai their hands 
wore ounibed, and meal would feeze when taken from the fire, and when they 
were lying-to in the harbor at Drake's bay, a Pew miles up the coast from San Fran- 
cisco, the snow covered the low hills. He then evaded the Spanish fleet by crossing 
the Pacific and returning to England by the Cape of Good Hope. For a long time it 
was believed that Sir Francis Drake discovered the bay of San Francisco; that it was 
in its waters be cast anchor for thirty-six days, after having- been forced back along 
the coast by adverse winds; but now it is generally conceded that he is not entitled 
to that distinction. Who discovered that harbor, or when the discovery was made, 
will probably never be known. What clothes it in mystery is, that the oldest chart 
or map of the Pacific coast known, on which a bay resembling in any way that of San 
Francisco at or near the proper point, was a sailing-chart found in the East Indian 
galleon captured in 174"_\ by Anson, an English commodore, with all her treasure, 
amounting to one and a half million dollars. Upon this chart there appeared seven 
little dots, marked " Los Farallones," and opposite these was a land-locked bay that 
resembled San Francisco harbor, but on the chart it bore no name. This is the oldest 
existing evidence of the discovery of the finest harbor in the world, and it proves two 
things: first, that its existence was known previous to that date, second, that the 
knowledge was possessed by the Spanish Manilla merchants to whom the chart and 
galleon belonged. Their vessels had been not unfrequently wrecked upon our coasts 
as far north as Cape Mendocino; and as Venegas, writing sixteen years later, says 
nothing of such a harbor, we are led to believe that its existence was possibly only 
known to those East India merchants, and Avas kept a secret by them for fear that its 
favorable location and adaptation would render it a resort for pirates and war-ships of 
rival nations to prey upon their commerce. 

With Sir Francis Drake, unquestionably, lies the honor of having been the first 
European to actually land upon the coast of California. The account of that event, 
given by Rev. Fletcher, the chaplain of the expedition, states that the natives; having 
mistaken them for gods, offered sacrifices to them, and that, to dispel the illusion, they 
proceeded to offer up their own devotions to a Supreme Being. The narrative goes on 
to relate that — 

Our necessarie business being ended, our General, with his companie, travailed up into the 
countrey to their villiages, where we found heardes of deere by 1,000 in a companie, being most 
large and fat of bodie. We found the whole countrey to be a warren of strange kinde of connies; 
their bodies in bigness as be the Barbarie connies, their heads as the heads of ours, the feet of a 
"Want [mole] and the taile of a rat, being of great length ; under her chinne on either side a bagge, 
into which she gathered her meate, when she hath filled her bellie, abroad. The people do eat 
their bodies, and make accompt for their skinnes, for their King's coat was made out of them. 
[The farmer will readily recognize the little burrowing squirrel that ruins his fields of alfalfa, where 
the ground cannot be overflowed to drown them.] Our General called this countrey Nova Albion, 
and that for two causes: the one in respect to the white bankes and cliffes which lie toward the 
sea; and the other because it might have some aftinitie with our countrey in name, which some- 
times was so called. 



22 PACIFIC COAST. 

There is no part of e:irth here to be taken up, wherein there is not a reasonable quantitie of 
gold or silver. Before sailing away, our General set up a monument of our being there, as also of 
her mail lit and title to the same, viz: a plate nailed upon a faire great poste, whereupon 

was engraved her majestie's name, the da}' and yeare of our arrival there, with the free giving uj> 
of the province and people into her majestie's hands, together with her highness' picture and arms, 
in a piece of five pence of current English money under the plate, whereunder was also written 
tin name of our General. 

It is claimed by some English historians that Drake proceeded as far north as 
latitude t8° ; but as the claim is founded simply upon the word of this lying chaplain 
and is utterly inconsistent with other statements in the same narrative and is entirely 
;ii variance with an account of the voyage written by Francis Pretty, one of the crew, 
and published within a few years after his return, it is worthy of but little considera- 
tion. Fletcher's account was published by a second party in 1652, seventy years 
later and long after the death of every man who could personally dispute its assertions, 
and bears no marks of authenticity. Many passages are taken bodily from Pretty's 
narrative, which seems to have been the foundation upon which a tissue of falsehood 
and absurdities was erected. The assertion that snow covered the hills about San 
Francisco in the month of June and that meat froze upon being taken from the fire, 
is enough to condemn it all in the mind of anyone familiar with the fact that snow 
seldom falls there even in winter, and that meat never freezes at any season of the 
year. These facts are important; for if Drake went to the 48th degree, he must have 
coasted along Oregon and Washington nearly to the Straits of Fuca ; but if not, then 
his furthest point northward was off the mouth of the Umpqua, no further than 
Ferrelo had gone in 1543. To the latter opinion the best authorities hold. 

Other English freebooters, encouraged by the dazzling success of Drake, followed 
his example, and for years Spam's commerce in the Pacific suffered many ravages at 
their hands. Meanwhile the English and Dutch navigators continued their efforts to 
discover the northwest passage, while the Spanish government was constantly excited 
and alarmed for fear these indefatigable searchers would be rewarded with success. 
Rumors that the Straits of Anian had been discovered were spread from time to time, 
creating great consternation in Spain, Spanish America and the Philippine islands. 
Several navigators pretended to have passed through these mythical straits, either to 
give themselves importance in the nautical world, or to secure some employment in 
their profession or emolument for the valuable services they thus claimed to have 
rendered. The narrative of this character which attracted the most universal atten- 
tion, was one of a voyage which was no doubt entirely fictitious, claimed to have been 
made by Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, a Portuguese, and related by him in 
a memorial to the Spanish Council of the Indies, wherein he petitioned for a remuner- 
ation for his valuable services and a commission to occupy and defend the passage 
against the ships of other nations. 

In his narrative, which was precise and careful in its details, were given all the 
geographical ideas of the time in regard to the regions that would naturally be visited 
during the voyage described, nearly all of which have since been proved to be erron- 
eous. This fact is conclusive evidence that the narrative was a manufactured one and 
the voyage a myth. In it the Straits of Anian are described as follows : 



pacific: coast. 23 

The strait of Anian is tii'tcn degrees in length, and can easirj be passed with a tide lasting six 

hours; for those tides arc very rapid. There are. in this length, six turns and t wo cut ranees, which 
lie north and south; that is, bear from each other north and south. The entrance on the north 
side (through which we passed) is less than half a quarter of a league in width, and on each Bide 
are ridges of high rooks; bul the rock on the side of Asia is higher and steeper than the other, and 
hangs over, so that nothing falling from the top can reach its base. [The reader must, hear in mind 
thai tins narrator claims the previous course of the vessel to have hcen through the long and tor- 
tuous channel of the Straits of Labrador in latitude 75 , from which it sailed southwest T'.lo leagues 
to the entrance of these straits in the GOth parallel of latitude; also that the straits were supposed 
to he a passage between Asia on the west, and America on the east, leading from this great North 
sea into the great South sea.] The entrance into the South sea, near the harbor, is more than a 
quarter of a league in width, and thence the passage runs in an oblique direction, increasing the 
distance between the two coasts. In the middle of the strait, at the termination of the third turn, 
is a great rock, and an islet, formed by a rugged rock, three estadias (11,000 feet) in height, more 
or less; its form is round and its diameter may be two hundred paces; its distance from the land 
of Asia is very little; but the sea on that side is full of shoals and reefs, and can only be navigated 
by boats. The distance between this islet and the continent of America is less than a quarter of a 
league in width; and, although its channel is so deep that two and even three ships might sail 
almost through it, two bastions might be built on the banks with little trouble, which would con- 
tract the channel to within the reach of a musket shot. 

Such is the only detailed description of the Straits of Anian, and it is thus given 
in full because of the effect it had upon maritime explorations for two centuries there- 
after. The author was evidently well posted on the maps and geographical theories of 
the day. and prepared his narrative with careful consideration of them ; but he failed 
in his cunning scheme, as the Council of the Indies not only denied his petition for a 
reward, but also declined to entrust him with the fortification and defense of the valu- 
able passage he claimed to have discovered. That to this story there was a foundation 
of fact is within the limits of possibility. There may have been made prior to the 
time the memorial was presented, some voyage to the extreme northern Atlantic coast 
of America, of which no record has been preserved. To have made the voyage 
claimed as high as the 75th parallel and passed through long straits into an open sea, 
traversing this southwest 790 leagues (about 3,000 miles) is plainly impossible. That, 
like Cortereal nearly a century before, he may have passed around the coast of Labra- 
dor and through the straits, which are near the GOth liarallel, into Hudson's bay, is 
possible; and, like his great predecessor, he may have assumed that this sea could be 
followed until the supposed strait leading into the South sea was found. Believing 
thoroughly in this theory, Maldonado may have written this fictitious narrative with 
the hope that it would gain for him the command of an expedition to go in search of 
the straits and take possession of them. One thing is noticeable, and that is that in 
Behring's straits we find the old theory that but a short and narrow passage separated 
Asia arid America was a correct one. 

The next supposed discovery of the Straits of Anian which attracted much atten- 
tion, was that claimed to have been made by Juan de Fuca while in the Spanish ser- 
vice in the Pacific in 1592. The only account or record of this voyage w r as published 
in 1625 in the celebrated historical and geographical volume called "The Pilgrims," 
edited by Samuel Purchas, being "A note made by Michael Lock, the elder, touching 
the Strait of Sea commonly called Fretum Anian, in the South Sea, through the 
Northwest Passage of Meta Incognita," Since this reputed voyage entered largely 






24 PACIFIC COAST. 

into i!i«' discussion and settlement of "The Oregon question," the main portion of Mr. 
dock's documeul is given, withoul attempting to preserve theOld English orthography. 
It Bays: 

When I was in Venice, in April, 1596, baply arrived there an old man, about sixty years of 

oalled, commonly, Juan de Fuca, but named properly Apostolas Valerianus, of nation a Greek, 
i in Cephalonia, of profession a mariner, and an ancient pilot of ships. This man, being come 
lately oul of Spain, arrived first at Leghorn, and went thence to Florence, where he found one 
John Douglas, an Englishman, a famous mariner, ready comingfor Venice, to be pilot of a Venetian 
ship for England, in whose company they came both together to Venice. And John Douglas being 
acquainted with me before, he gave me knowledge of this Greek pilot, and brought him to my 
speech : and, in long talks and conference between us, in presence of John Douglas, this Greek 
pilot declared, in the Italian and Spanish languages, this much in effect as followeth : 

First, he said he had been in the West Indies of Spain forty years, and had sailed to and from 
many places thereof, in the service of the Spaniards. 

Also, he said that he was in the Spanish ship which, in returning from the Islands Philip- 
pines, towards Nova Spania, was robbed and taken at the Cape California by Captain Candish, 
Englishman, whereby he lost sixty thousand ducats of his goods. 

Also, he said that he was pilot of three small ships which the Viceroy of Mexico sent from 
Mexico, armed with one hundred men, under a captain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, 
along the coast of the South Sea, and to fortify in that strait, to resist the passage and proceedings 
of the English nation, which were forced to pass through those straits into the South Sea ; and 
that, by reason of a mutiny which happened among the soldiers for the misconduct of their cap- 
tain, that voyage was overthrown, and the ship returned from California to Nova Spania, without 
anything done in that voyage ; and that, after their return, the captain was at Mexico punished by 
justice. 

Also, he said that, shortly after the said voyage was so ill ended, the said Viceroy of Mexico 
sent him out again, in 1592, with a small caravel and a pinnace, armed with mariners only, to fol- 
low the said voyage for the discovery of the Straits of Anian, and the passage thereof into the sea, 
which they call the North Sea, which is our northwest sea : and that he followed his course, in that 
voyage, west and northwest in the South Sea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, 
and the Indies, now called North America, (all which voyage he signified to me in a great map, and 
a sea-card of my own, which I laid before him), until he came to the latitude of 47 degrees , and 
that, there finding that the land trended north and northwest, with a broad inlet of sea, between 
47 and 48 degrees of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty days, and 
found that land trending still sometime northwest, and northeast, and north, and also east and 
southeastward, and very much broader sea than was at the said entrance, and that he passed by 
divers islands in that sailing ; and that, at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the northwest 
coast thereof, a great headland or island, v/ith an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a 
pillar, thereupon. 

Also, he said that he w T ent on land in clivers places, and that he saw some people on land clad 
in beasts' skins ; and that the land is very fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other 
things, like Nova Spania. 

Also, he said that he being entered thus far into the said strait, and being come into the 
North Sea already, and finding the sea wide enough everywhere, and to be about thirty or forty 
leagues wide in the mouth of the straits where he entered, he thought he had now well discharged 
his office ; and that, not being armed to resist the force of the savage people that might happen, he 
therefore set sail, and returned homewards again towards Nova Spania, where he arrived at Aca- 
pulco, Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded by the Viceroy for this service done in the said voyage. 

[Here follows an account of his vain endeavors for three years to secure a 
proper recognition of his services by the Viceroy or the Spanish monarch, and his resolution to 
return to his native land to die among his countrymen.] * * * 

Also, he said he thought the cause of his ill-reward had of the Spaniards, to be for that they 
did understand very well that the English nation had now given over all their voyages for discovery 



PACIFIC COAST. 

of the northwest passage ; wherefore they need not fear them any more to come thai way into the 
South Sea, and therefore they needed no! his service therein any more. 

Also, he said that, understanding the noble mind of the Queen of England, and of her wars 
against the Spaniards, and hoping that her majesty would Ao him justice for Ins goods lost byCap- 
tain Can dish, lie would be content to go into England, and serve her majesty in that voyage Eoi 
the discovery perfectly of the northwest passage into the South Sea, if she would furnish him with 
only one ship of forty tons' burden, and a pinnace, and that he would perform it in thirty days' 
time, from one end to the other of the strait, and he willed me so to write to England. 

And, from conference had twice with the said Greek pilot, I did write thereof, accordingly, 
to England, unto the right honorable the old Lord Treasurer Cecil, and to Sir Walter Raleigh, and 
to Master Richard Hakluyt, that famous cosmographer, certifying them hereof. And I prayed 
them to disburse one hundred pounds, to bring the said Greek pilot into England, with myself, 
for that my own purse would not stretch so wide at that time. And I had answer that this action 
was well liked and greatly desired in Eugland ; but the money was not ready, and therefore this 
action died at that time, though the said Greek pilot, perchance, liveth still in his own country, in 
Cephalonia, towards which place he went within a fortnight after this conference had at Venice. 

The remainder of the long document gives the details of correspondence held by- 
Lock with Juan de Fuca during the next few years, showing that up to 1598 the pilot 
was still willing to go with him to England, but that in 1602, when Lock had finally 
finished his business in Venice and prepared to return to England, a letter to the 
Greek failed to elicit a response, and the writer heard a little later that the old navigator 
was dead. 

Much controversy has been and is still being carried on among historians as to 
whether such a person as Juan de Fuca ever lived, or such a voyage as Lock described 
was ever made. Mexican and Spanish records of the period have been carefully 
searched by those eager to prove the truth of this narrative, without revealing any 
confirmatory evidence whatever. The negative the records, of course, could not estab- 
lish. The voyage must stand or fall by the manner in which the narrator's geograph- 
ical descriptions bear the light of modern investigation. One thing is clearly notice- 
able ; its geographical descriptions of regions claimed to have been visited are far more 
accurate than those of any navigator of the preceding or subsequent century in any 
quarter of the globe; and the narrative is entirely free from those extravagant asser- 
tions in regard to the wonderful wealth of the people or magnificence of their cities, 
contained in the accounts of voyages whose authenticity can not be questioned, which 
a— ertions were always found to have been grossly exaggerated and often wholly the 
creatures of imagination. Prima facie, then, it is more authentic than accounts of 
nearly contemporaneous voyages of which undisputable records exist. Now to 
examine its statements by the clear light of facts. Juan de Fuca locates his passage 
between 47° and 48° of latitude, while the fact is that between the 48th and 49th, 
just such a passage as he describes exists. This is the entrance to Puget sound and 
i- still known as the Straits of Fuca. His account of the passage, its leading off in 
all directions and its many islands, is substantially correct, and his error in locating 
the entrance a few miles to the south is a far less grievous one than those made in 
every account handed down to us of those times. The advanced age, length of time 
elapsed and annoyances of his long efforts to secure his just reward, could easily account 
for so slight an error when detailing the circumstances from memory alone ; and it must 
be remembered that the account was written by Lock, a second party, and is liable to 



26 PACIFIC COAST. 

slighl errors in statement, though probably none very material, as Lock was an intel- 
ligent and respectable merchant and appears to have been an extremely careful and 
methodical man. Fuca was in the passage twenty days, though he does not state that 
he sailed straight along through it all this time, but must of necessity have spent 
fully half his time in circumnavigating islands and running into bays while endeavor- 
in- to follow the main channel. At the end of this time, saying nothing about the 
number of miles traveled, he came out again into the open sea, supposing himself to 
have passed through into another ocean. Here arises the difficulty most historians 
have in reconciling the narrative with the facts; and the difficulty exists, not in 
the narrative itself, but in the fact that these historians have not sufficiently acquainted 
themselves with the geographical theories which obtained at the time of Fuca's 
voyage. Tbey seem to think that he must necessarily have supposed that he had 
gone clear through the continent into the Atlantic, an utter impossibility. Such was 
most certainly not the case. The Straits of Anian were at that time believed to be a 
passage running north and south, separating the continents of Asia and America, 
and extending from the South sea to the North sea'. Across this North sea it was 
many hundred leagues around the north end of America before reaching the Atlantic. 
In sailing in a generally northward direction, therefore, between Vancouver island 
and the main land of British Columbia and finally entering again into the Pacific 
ocean, it was most natural for him to suppose that he had passed from the South sea 
through the Straits of Anian into the North sea. He did not claim to have sailed 
eastward, as so main" historians seem to assume, for had the passage led so far in that 
direction he would have doubted its identity with the Straits of Anian ; nor did he 
claim to have entered the Atlantic, but simply the North sea. It seems then that the 
only evidence against its authenticity is the negative one of there being no record of 
such a voyage in Spanish archives ; and this is at least partially explained by the state- 
ment that neither the viceroy nor the king would recognize the services of the 
navigator. For this reason, they may have permitted no record of the voyage to be 
made. If Juan de Fuca made the voyage as narrated, then Spain's claim to the coun- 
try for some distance above Puget sound, so far as the right of discovery is concerned, 
was a good one, and the title conveyed from her through France to the United States 
good to an equal degree. Another argument against it is the fact that even at the 
time Fuca was pouring his tale into the willing ear of the English merchant, another 
Spanish expedition was engaged in looking for this passage, and in the letter ordering 
the exploration the reasons for doing so are set forth at length, though no allusion is 
made to the Greek, who, according to Lock's narrative must have been importuning 
the king for his reward at the very time the letter was written. It may be argued, 
however, that Fuca's statements to the king may have been what induced him to order 
this expedition, instead of the causes set forth in the royal mandate. 

In 1708 there was printed in a London magazine entitled Monthly Miscellany, or 
Memoirs of the Curious, a most absurd and self- contradictory account of a voyage said 
to have been made in 1640 from the Pacific to the Atlantic through a great chain of 
lakes. Though it was probably invented by James Petiver, an eminent naturalist and 
contributor to the magazine, yet it created a great sensation in England, France and 
Holland, and was received with considerable faith for more than half a century. 



PACIFIC COAST 27 

The narrator states thai Admiral Pedro Bartholome de Fonte, sailed from Callao 
in April. L640, with orders from the viceroy of Peru to explore the Pacific for a uorth- 
wesl passage and to intercept some Boston vessels which had been reported as bound 
upon the same mission on the Atlantic coast. Since Boston was in K; 10 hut a small 
struggling settlement ami the Puritans were not looking tin- any northwest passage, it 
would seem as though this statement alone was enough to have condemned the entire 
narrative: hut as it was not published for sixty-eight years after that date probably 
neither the writer nor the people stopped to consider the absurdity. The story informs 
US that at (ape San Lucas Fonte detached one of his four vessels to explore the Gulf 
of California ami with the others continued up the coast. Having sailed for a long 
time among islands which he named Archipelago of St. Lazarus, he finally reached, in 
latitude 53 degrees, the mouth of a large stream christened by him Rio de los Reyes, 
or River of Kings. He sent one vessel further up the coast under the command of 
Bernardo, and then entered the river and followed it northwesterly until it opened out 
into an immense lake filled with beautiful islands, which he named Lake Belle. It was 
surrounded by a line country, and the inhabitants were very hospitable in their treat- 
ment of the strangers. Leaving his vessels at their large town, called Conasset, on the 
south shore of the lake, Fonte and some of his party continued their journey down a 
large stream called Parmentier, though whether in boats or on foot alon<> - the bank the 
narrative is silent, until they entered another lake further east. This he named in his 
own honor, and then proceeded through a passage, called Strait of Ronquillo in honor 
of one of his captains, into the Atlantic ocean, having thus passed entirely through the 
American continent by water. It then goes on to state that he encountered a Boston 
ship commanded by Nicholas Shapley, with whom, also, was the owner, Seymour Gib- 
b: ms, "a fine gentleman, and major general of the largest colony in New England, 
called Maltechusetts." After exchanging courtesies with these strangers, whom he 
decided to treat simply as traders and not as hostile explorers for the northwest passage, 
he returned by the water route to Lake La Belle and thence in his vessels to the Pacific, 
where he was again joined by Bernardo. The journey claimed to have been made in 
the meantime by this lieutenant is equally wonderful. Having coasted as far as the 
<Hst degree of latitude Bernardo discovered a great river, up which he ascended till he, 
also, emerged into a large lake. He named these Rio de Haro and Lake Velaseo. 
From the lake he went in canoes to the 79th parallel, but as the land was seen "still 
trending north, and the ice rested on the land," he concluded to return. Lie was satis- 
fied "that there was no communication out of the Atlantic sea by Davis's strait; for the 
natives had conducted one of his seamen to the head of Davis's strait, which terminated 
in a fresh lake, of about thirty miles in circumference, in the 80th degree of north lat- 
itude ; and there were prodigious mountains north of it," Satisfied from the report of 
Bernardo and his own observations that the Straits of Anian did not exist, Fonte re- 
turned with his fleet to Peru. 

This story, so absurd in the light of modern research, and which was not published 
till long after the explorers, if, indeed, there were any, had become imperishable dust, 
was received with great credence; though it was in every particular contradictory to 
those of Maldonado and Juan de Fuca. For fifty year- it was copied into all works 
upon North America and many maps of the continent had indicated upon them a pas- 



PAt EPIC I 0AS1 2'J 

That in the meantime the English Bhould find oul the Bo-muoh-deaired pa igi bo th< S mtfa 
S .. by the north of America and above California, whiofa passage is nol universally denied, and 
one >la\ im:i\ be found ; thai thej may fortify themselves on both Bides of this passage) and thus 
extend the English dominion from the north to the south of America, bo as to border on our p 

lions. Should English colonies and garrisons be established along the coasl of America on the 
South Sea beyond Oape Mendocino, or lower down on California itself, England would then, with- 
out control, reign mistress of the Boa and its commerce, and be able to threaten by land and sea 
the terr Spain ; invade them on occasion from the E., W., N". and s., hem them in and 

ss tlu m on all sidi s. 

In compliance with bis sovereign's mandate, the viceroy dispatched three vessels 
from Acapulco in the spring of 1596, under the command of Sebastian Viscaino. 
Beyond an attempt to plant two colonics, both of which were unsuccessful because of 
tlic> sterility of the country and the savage hostility of the native-, nothing was accom- 
plished by this feeble pretense of obeying instructions. The viceroy was not permitted 
to thus shirk the expense of making a proper survey of the coast; for though he was 
respited for a time by the death of the kino- in L598, one of the first acts of Philip III. 
after being securely seated upon the throne, was to command the viceroy to attend to 
this matter without further delay. Viscaino was, in consequence, again sent out, this 
time upon a genuine voyage of exploration. His two vessels and small fragata 
were furnished with all the necessaries of an extended cruise, and he was accompanied 
by pilot-, draftsmen and priests, so that advantage could he taken of all discoveries and 
proper records and charts made of them. 

The fleet -ailed from Acapulco May 5, 1002. and began exploring the coast at the 
southern extremity of the peninsula of California. They were much baffled by a wind 
blowing almost constantly from the northwest, which Torquemada says was produced 
•■ by the foe of the human race, in order to prevent the advance of the ships, and to 
delay the discovery of those countries, and the conversion of their inhabitants to the 
Catholic faith." Added to this difficulty was the terrible malady, the scurvy, which 
made -ad inroads upon the health of the crews. They continued up the coast in spite 
of these discouraging circumstances, entering the ports of San Quentin, San Diego and 
Monterey. Here it was found that sixteen of the seamen had died and that many others 
were incapacitated by disease from performing duty ; and it was decided to send back 
the ship commanded by Toribio Gomez de Corvan with the invalids. Corvan reached 
Acapulco after a long and terrible journey with but few of the crew of his vessel alive. 

A few days later, on the third of January, 1603, the two remaining vessels 
renewed the voyage, ami were soon separated in a gale, from the fury of which the 
larger one took refuge in a bay spoken of in the record of the voyage as San Francisco, 
where search was made for a Spanish galleon which hail been wrecked there in 1595. 
Torquemada -ays: "He anchored behind a point of rocks called La Punta de los 
Rayes, in the port of San Francisco." It seems impossible that this could have been 
San Francisco bay; for one of the chief objects of the voyage was to find a harbor of 
refuge and supply for vessels in the Manila trade, and yet upon his return Viscaino 
recommended San Diego and Monterey a- being the only ones at till suitable for that 
purpose; yet it will be remembered that in later years, before any absolute record of 
the discovery of this bay wa- made, a chart upon which such a bay was indicated was 
found by an Englishman on a captured Manila galleon. The probabilities are. however, 



30 PACIFIC COAST. 

thai ill*- bay Viscaino entered was Drake's bay, just north of the Golden Gate, the 
place where sir Francis Drake a few years before had enacted his farce of taking pos- 
sesion of tlu- country in the name of the queen of England. Viscaino resumed his 
journey and on the twentieth of January reached a point on the coast opposite a huge 
white bluff, in latitude 42°, which he named Cape San Sebastian. The weather being 
c.»ld and stormy, bis crew being nearly all disabled by the scurvy, and being unable to 
discover any sign of the other vessel, Viscaino turned back at this point, and reached 
Mexico in March. The fragata proceeded north when separated from the ship off San 
Francisco bay, and encountering another severe storm took refuge near Cape Mendocino. 
Of the remainder of its explorations Torquemada says : " When the wind had became 
less violent they continued their journey close along the shore; and, on the nineteenth 
of January, the pilot, Antonio Flores, found that they were in the latitude of 43 
degrees, where the land formed a cape or point, which was named Cape Blanco. From 
that point the coast begins to turn to the northwest ; and near it was discovered a rapid 
and abundant river, with ash trees, willows, brambles, and other trees of Castile on its 
banks, which they endeavored to enter, but could not from the force of the current. 
Ensign Martin de Aguilar, the commander, and Antonio Flores, the pilot, seeing that 
they had already reached a higher latitude than was ordered by the viceroy in his 
instructions, that the Captaina [Viscaino's vessel] did not appear, and that the number 
of sick was great, agreed to return to Acapulco." 

The fragata reached Acapulco soon after the larger vessel, the ravages of the 
scurvy having deprived it of its commander, pilot and the greater portion of the crew 
on the return voyage. This disease and its cause do not ajopear to have been well 
understood at that time. The suffering it caused was most terrible, and it is remarkable 
what fortitude the Spaniards displayed in continuing their voyages during the preva- 
lence of such a horrible malady. In describing their sufferings, Torquemada says : 
" Nor is the least ease to be expected from change of place, as the slightest motion is 
attended with such severe pains that they must be very fond of life who would not 
willingly lay it down on the first appearance of so terrible a distemper. This virulent 
humour makes such ravages in the body that it is entirely covered with ulcers, and the 
l^oor patients are unable to bear the least pressure ; even the very clothes laid on them 
deprive them of life. Thus they lie groaning and incapable of any relief. For the 
greatest assistance possible to be given them, if I may be allowed the expression, is not 
to touch them, nor even the bed clothes. These effects, however melancholy, are not 
the only ones produced by this pestilential humour. In many, the gums, both of the 
upper and lower jaw r s, are pressed both within and without to such a degree, that 
the teeth cannot touch one another, and withal so loose and bare that they shake 
with the least motion of the head, and some of the patients spit their teeth 
out with their saliva. Thus they were unable to receive any food but liquid, as gruel, 
broth, milk of almonds and the like. This gradually brought on so great a weakness 
that they died while talking to their friends. * * * Some, by way of ease, made 
loud complaints, others lamented their sins with the deepest contrition, some died talking, 
some sleeping, some eating, some whilst sitting up in their beds." 

The great river said to have been discovered by this expedition attracted much 
attention at the time. The historian quoted above said of it : " It is supposed that 



PAOIFIC coast. 81 

this river is the one leading to ;i greal city, which was discovered by the Dutch when 
they were driven thither by storms, and thai it is the Strail of Anian, through which 
the ship passed in sailing from the North sea to the South sea ; and thai the city called 
Quiyira is in those pan-: and thai this is the region referred to in the accounl which 
his majesty read, and which induced him to order this expedition." No greal river 
ists in latitude 13 degrees; bul it is well known thai the navigators of thai period 
were seldom accurate in their observations, often varying as much as hall' a degree, and 
it is quite possible the stream referred to may have been the Qmpqua. A few years 
later it was supposed that this stream was one end of a passage extending from the 
Gulf of California to (apt' Blanco, making of California a huge island, and this idea 
was supported by the knowledge of the Colorado river, which had been explored many 
mile- to the northward. Venegas, writing in the seventeenth century, speaks of ( lalifor- 
nia as an island, and it was so designated on all maps until the end of the century. 
After this was discovered to be ;i mistake, the river was laid down on some maps 
a- a large stream flowing from the interior of the continent — such a stream as the Col- 
umbia — or as the western end of a passage Leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Very little was known of the width of the continent ; and geographers supposed it was 
hut a shorl distance between the South sea and North sea. They had no idea that a 
passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans would have been 4,000 miles in Length. 
Upon his return to Mexico Viscaino strongly urged the viceroy to establish supply 
stations at San DiegO and Monterey and to thus take possession of a country which he 
was satisfied, from what lie learned by careful inquiry among the natives he encountered 
along the coast, was extremely fertile and rich in the precious metals; hut the viceroy 
had too much consideration {'or his personal interests, since the expense of such an under- 
taking would have fallen solely upon himself, and neglected to utilize the information 
thus obtained. Viscaino, disgusted with the viceroy's inactivity, departed for Spain to 
present his views at court; and after Long delay and persistent importuning secured a 
royal mandate to the viceroy, commanding him to establish a supply station for the 
India trade at .Monterey. This order was issued in 1G06, and with it Viscaino hastened 
to Mexico; hut before the final preparations were completed he was taken sick and died, 
ami the colonizing enterprise was abandoned. With no enthusiastic explorer to arouse 
him to action ami with no hostile fleets in the Pacific to annoy him, the Spanish mon- 
arch apparently thought no more of the Pacific coast or the northwest passage, and a 
few years later there was enough to occupy his attention at home. He ordered no more 
voyages of exploration, and the viceroys were careful to undertake none upon their own 
responsibility, nor any other enterprise unless the immediate prospective profits were 
great. For a hundred and sixty years Spain made no further effort to extend her ex- 
plorations of the coast, nor did she even attempt the establishment of colonies at San 
Diego or Monterey, either for the purpose of taking possession of the country or forming 
refuge and supply stations for vessels returning from India. With the exception of the 
annual galleon which reached the coast on it- return voyage in the Latitude of Cape 
Mendocino, no Spanish vessel visited our shores for a century and a half. Not even 
the mythical straits, the fabulous city of Quivira, the untold riches and many wonderful 
objects -opposed to exist in this vast unknown territory, were potent to arouse Spain 
from her Lethargy. She made a few feeble efforts to protect her commerce at times 



::j PACIFIC COAST. 

during this period when attacked by roving privateers, but her attempts at colonization 
in Lower California, which will be spoken of later on, met with little success. There 
Beemed to be no new Cortes, Pizarro, De Leon,Balboa or f)e Soto. Thespiritof adven- 
ture was dead. Spain ha<l passed her zenith and was rapidly on the decline. Wars 
with the Netherlands, France and Portugal were most disastrous. Power, wealth and 
territory rapidly decreased, and in a century she declined from the foremost position in 
the world to that of a second rate power, and has never been able to regain her lost 
ground. With such disasters crowding upon her in the Old World, her apathy in the 
New was but a natural result. 

Though Spain had ceased her voyages of exploration, such was not the case with 
her powerful European neighbors, who were indefatigable in their efforts to explore and 
(••Ionize the Atlantic eoast of America. The English, French and Dutch planted col- 
onics on the coast, while their hardy navigators unremittingly explored its bays, rivers, 
straits and sounds. Uppermost in the minds of all was the northwest passage. The 
stories of its discovery which have already been related, and many others unworthy of 
repetition, kept the Straits of Anian constantly in the public mind. In 1608 Henry 
Hudson passed into and to a certain extent explored the bay upon which he bestowed 
his name; yet he was but following the route pursued by Cortereal more than a century 
before, Avhose theory that it connected with the Indian ocean had given rise to this uni- 
versal belief in the mythical straits. In 1616 William Baffin j>enetrated into the bay 
that hears his name, lying between America and Greenland, and entered a passage ex- 
tending westward near the 74th parallel, but was unable to proceed because of the vast 
quantities of ice. This voyage and others made into the extreme north, proved con- 
clusively that no open passage could be possible in the 75th degree of latitude, where 
Maldonado had located his tortuous channel leading from the Atlantic to the North 
sea, and geographers became convinced that if such a passage and sea existed they were 
the straits and bay explored and named by Hudson. The belief was natural, then, that 
if found at all, the Straits of Anian should be looked for in some of the many unexplored 
arms of Hudson's bay. For a time, however, after Baffin's voyage, England was so 
engrossed in her own troubles that neither Royalists nor Commoners had time or inclina- 
tion to prosecute foreign explorations. 

The expeditions of the Dutch were chiefly to the southward, and in 1616 Lemaire 
and Van Schouten made a most important discovery. It was that in passing from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, it was unnecessary to tempt the dangers of Magellan's straits, but 
that to the south of these there existed an open sea. Though the passage of Cape Horn, 
named by them in honor of the city in Holland from which they came, was still a tem- 
pestuous one, it served to remove the fear all seaman entertained of undertaking to cross 
from one ocean to the other through the narrow and rocky channel above Terra del 
Fuego. This discovery was nearly as disastrous to Spanish commerce in the Pacific as 
that of the much feared one from the North sea could possibly have been; for there now 
existed no obstacle to prevent hostile vessels from entering or leaving the Pacific at will, 
since the open sea was too large to be guarded even had Spain the necessary vessels of 
war for such a purpose. 

Spain was now involved in European wars, and to the disasters that were showered 
upon her head at home were added others in America. English, French and Dutch 




/ HL 









PACIFIC ( OAST. :ci 

buccaneers, and especially the latter during the war for independence by the Nether- 
lands, ravaged the Spanish settlements on the Pacific coast. Dutch privateers fre- 
quented the Gulf nt' California, from which they preyed upon the Spanish commerce 
and enriched themselves with captured booty. By their victims they were known as 
Pichilingues, because the bay of Pichilingue, on the western side of the gulf, was made 
their chief point of rendezvous. 

Spain made a few feeble and spasmodic efforts to dislodge these piratical pests and 
protect her plundered commerce, by sending out expeditions against them and by 
attempting to plant a colony on Lower California as a base of defensive operations. In 
1631, 164 l. 1664, L667and L668such efforts were made: but they were wholly fruitless, 
and in no instance were the enterprises conducted with the vigor and courage displayed 
by the Spanish adventurers of a century before. A final effort was made in 1 <><S- > by 
Don [sdro de Otondo, who headed an expedition of soldiers, settlers and Jesuit priests 
whom he established at various points, making La Paz the headquarters and chief 
settlement and building there a chapel for worship and to aid in the conversion of the 
natives. Father Kino was in charge of the religious part of the enterprise, and set 
about learning the Indian language, and soon translated into their tongue the creed- of 
the Catholic Church. The effort lasted about three years, during which time they were 
visited with an eighteen months' drought, and before they had recovered from the blow, 
received orders to put to sea, and bring into Acapnlco safely the Spanish galleon, then 
in danger of capture by Dutch privateers lying in wait for her. This was successfully 
accomplished, the treasure-ship was conveyed safely in, but the act resulted in the 
abandonment of the colony; and a council of chief authorities in Mexico soon after 
decided that the reduction of California by such means was impracticable. 

After Charles II. came to the throne of England, from which his father had been 
driven by the austere Cromwell, attention was again turned by that nation to explorations 
for the northwest passage. The belief that in Hudson's bay would be found the en- 
trance to the mythical straits, led to the organization of the Hudson's Bay Company, to 
which the king granted, in 1669, the whole region whose waters flow into that great 
inland sea. The objects of " The company of adventurers of England trading into 
Hudson's Bay," as expressed in the charter, were those of trade and the discovery of a 
passage leading into the Pacific ocean. It was not long, however, before the company 
learned that its franchise for trading purposes was an exceedingly valuable one, and that 
the discovery of a passage through its dominions, which would of necessity invoke 
competition from other organizations, was highly undesirable. From that time it not 
only made no effort to discover the passage, but discouraged all such expeditions, even 
keeping as secret as possible all geographical knowledge acquired by its agents, which 
policy obtains even to the present day, and which has kept as a fur-bearing wilderness 
the whole northern half of the North American continent. 



CHAPTER V. 

RUSSIA ENTERS THE PACIFIC. 

Russia a New Factor in the Contest of Nations— Plans of Peter the Great— Behring's First Voyage Proves that 
Asia and America are Distinct Continents— Voyage of the St. Paul— Behring Reaches the American Coast and 
Expires on the Return Voyage— Terrible Suffering of the Crew— Beginning of the Pacific Fur Trade— Result 
of Russian Explorations. 

Though France confined her attention to inland explorations from her Canadian 
colonies, England to fostering her colonies in America and exploring the north Atlantic 
coast, and Holland to the founding of New Amsterdam and the plundering of the Span- 
ish commerce and settlements in the south Pacific ; yet the North Pacific coast was not 
wholly neglected during the first half of the eighteenth century. A new and almost 
unexpected factor made itself felt in the Pacific, and this was the powerful and autocratic 
monarch of Russia. Peter the Great had redeemed Russia from a state of almost utter 
barbarity and set it on the highway to civilization and national power. In the arts of 
war and peace he had patiently instructed his people, had cemented their national union, 
had awakened a national pride and love of power within their bosoms, had extended his 
domain and increased the number of his subjects, and had made of a people formerly 
scarcely thought of when the affairs of Europe were discussed, one of the most influ- 
ential nations of the world. It was his constant aim and the legacy he left to his 
successors, to extend the j)Ower of Russia on all sides, to build up the nation and make 
it the foremost on the globe, and the czars have never relaxed their efforts to accomplish 
this mighty purpose. Gradually the dominion of the czar was pushed eastward until 
his authority extended across the whole of Siberia to the Pacific at the peninsula of 
Kaintchatka. The rich furs of that region became a source of revenue to the govern- 
ment which Peter was desirous of increasing. He wanted to extend his power still 
further east to the American settlements of the English, Spanish and French, though 
how far that was neither he nor anyone else had the least conception. To this desire 
is due the discovery and exploration of the northern Pacific coasts of both Asia and 
America. Peter commanded vessels to be built at Kamtchatka, and at Archangel on 
the White sea, that they might endeavor, the one in the Arctic and the other in the 
Pacific, to find the long-sought northwest j^assage, or as they viewed it a northeast 
passage. It was Peter's idea that vessels could sail from the Atlantic through the 
Arctic ocean and enter the Pacific by the way of this passage, provided America did 
not prove to be simply an eastern extension of Asia; but Peter died before his project 
was executed, and the scheme lay dormant for a few years. 

In 1728 the great Catherine determined to carry out her husband's plans for 
Pacific exploration, and agreeably to his former instructions she ordered an expedition 
to be prepared on the northeast coast of Kamtchatka, which she placed under the com- 



PACIFIC COAST. 86 

mand <»t' ;i Danish navigator of >l<ill and courage, Vitus Behring, who bad been desig- 
nated by Peter for thai position before his death. He sailed on the the fourteenth of 
July iii a small vessel, and followed along the coast of Asm easl and north until in 
latitude 67° 18' he found it steadily trending westward, and was satisfied be was then 

in the Arctic and following the northern coast to the west. Convinced thai he had 
fulfilled his instructions and demonstrated the tact thai Asia and America were separate 
continents, and being unprepared for a winter voyage, he returned to Kamtchatka. 

How tar America lay to the eastward of Asia he knew not, for no land had been 
observed in that direction, and he was totally ignoranl of the tact that he had, both in 
going and returning, passed through the narrow channel separating the two con- 
tinents ami been within a tew miles of the American shore. This was made 
evident a tew years later, and Behring's name was bestowed upon the straits. 
The elusive northwest passage had been found, though it took many years to 
discover that as a means of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific it was 
absolutely impracticable. That Behring's passage meets the requirements of the 
Straits of Anian as depicted by Maldonado, both in latitude and general features, can- 
not be denied, but to navigate the North sea as described by him and to pass through 
the tortuous straits he locates in the 75th parallel into the Atlantic is utterly impos- 
sible: and, therefore, Behring's straits cannot be looked upon as lending any support 
to the romance with which the unscrupulous Maldonado regaled the Council of the 
Indies. 

The next year Behring undertook to reach America by sailing directly eastward, 
but adverse winds forced him into the Gulf of Okotsk, and he abandoned the under- 
taking and proceeded to St. Petersburg. During the next few years many other 
expeditions by land and sea, one of which was driven upon the coast of Alaska in 
1732, more clearly defined the Asiatic coast, and the nature of the passage between 
it and America. The Empress Anne prepared for another expedition, but dying 
before it was ready to sail, was succeeded by Elizabeth, who dispatched two vessels, 
the St. Peter and St. Pa///, from the Bay of Avatscha on the fourth of June. The 
former was commanded by Behring and the latter by Alexei Tchirikof, who had been 
his lieutenant on the former voyage. The vessels were soon separated in a gale and 
were not again united. Tchirikof returned on the eighth of October, having reached 
a group of islands on the coast in latitude •*><> degrees, where sixteen of his men were 
slaughtered by the natives, and having loit twenty-one of his crew by scurvy, includ- 
ing the distinguished French naturalist Delile de Crayere. 

( )f the discoveries made by Behring and the sufferings endured by the crew of the 
St. Peter, the only record is that of a journal kept by Steller, the German surgeon and 
naturalist, which was first published in full in 175)"), though its tenor and leading fea- 
tures were known at a much earlier date. Its nautical and geographical details are 
not as definite as could be desired. It seems that Behring sailed south-easterly as far 
as the 40th parallel without encountering land and then steered to the northeast as far 
as the 60th degree, when he discovered an immense snow-covered mountain which he 
named St. Elias because it was first seen on the eighteenth of July, the day assigned to 
that saint in the Russian calender. Entering a narrow passage between an island and 
the mainland a strong current of discolored water was observed, indicating the pre— 



36 PACIFIC COAST. 

ence of a large river whose size proved the land through which it flowed to be of con- 
tinental proportions. The conclusion was at once reached that America had been 
found; but Behring, who was ill, refused to explore the coast to the southeast in the 
direction of the Spanish possessions, and set out upon the return voyage. Delayed and 
baffled by violent winds and the many islands of the Aleutian group, but slow pro- 
gress was made. For two months they wandered or were driven about by furious 
winds in the open sea to the south of the archipelago, famine and disease claiming 
their victims almost daily. "The general distress and mortality," says the journal of 
the surgeon, "increased so fast that not only the sick died, but those who pretended to 
he healthy when released from their posts fainted and fell down dead; of which the 
scantiness of water, the want of biscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, vermin, and 
terror, were not the least causes." On the fifth of November they landed upon an 
island with the purpose of spending the winter there, and constructed huts from the 
wreck of their vessel which was dashed by the waves upon the beach soon after the 
landing was effected. Behring died on the eighth of December, and during the winter 
thirty of the crew followed him. The survivors, having lived upon sea and land 
animals killed on the island, constructed a small vessel from pieces of the wreck, and 
succeeded in reaching the Bay of Avatscha the following August. The little island 
where they had spent the winter and where were buried their commander and so many 
of their comrades, they named Behring's Isle ; it lies about eighty miles from the Kamt- 
chatkan coast, and consists of granite peaks thrust up from mid ocean, against which 
the w r aves dash with ceaseless fury. 

No disposition was manifested by the rulers of Russia to prosecute further dis- 
coveries for more than twenty years. Individual enterprise, however accomplished 
something. The returning survivors of Behring's ill-fated expedition took with them 
the skins of animals which had served them as food during that terrible winter, and 
sold them at high prices. This led to short voyages eastward in quest of furs, the 
beginning of that enormous fur trade in the Pacific which was for years a bone of con- 
tention between nations and which led to the first settlement and occupation of Oregon. 
It is thus described by Greenhow: 

" The trade thus commenced was, for a time, carried on by individual adventurers, 
each of whom was alternately a seaman, a hunter, and a merchant; at length, how- 
ever, some capitalists in Siberia employed their funds in the pursuit, and expeditions 
to the islands were, in consequence, made on a more extensive scale, and with greater 
regularity and efficiency. Trading stations were established at particular points, where 
the furs were collected by persons left for that object; and vessels were sent, at stated 
periods, from the ports of Asiatic BAissia, to carry the articles required for the use of 
the agents and hunters, or for barter with the natives, and to bring away the skins 
collected. 

' The vessels employed in this commerce were, in all respects, wretched and inse- 
cure, the planks being merely attached together, without iron, by leathern thongs ; and, 
as no instruments were used by the traders for determining latitudes and longitudes at 
sea, their ideas of the relative positions of the places which they visited were vague 
and incorrect. Their navigation was, indeed, performed in the most simple and un- 
scientific manner possible. A vessel sailing from the Bay of Avatscha, or from Cape 




o 
c 
w 
m 



PACIFIC C0AS1 87 

Lopatka, the southern extremity of Kamtchatka, could qoI have gone Par eastward, 
without falling in with one of the Aleutian islands, which would serve as a mark for 
her course to another ; and thus she might go on from point to point throughout the 
whole chain. In like manner she would return t<> Asia, and if her course and rate of 
sailing were observed with tolerable care, their could seldom be any uncertainty as to 

whether she were north or south of the line of the islands. Many vessels were, never- 

theless, annually lost, in consequence of this want of knowledge of the coasts, and 
want of means to ascertain positions at >ea; and a large number of those engaged in 

the truth', moreover, fell victims to cold, starvation and scurvy, and to the enmity of 
the hold natives ot' the islands. Even ;is late as L806, it was calculated that one-third 
of these vessels were lost in each year. The history ot* the Russian trade and estab- 
lishments on the north Pacific, is a series of details of dreadful disasters and suffer- 
ings : and. whatever opinion may hi' entertained as to the humanity of the adventurer-, 
or the morality of their proceedings, the courage and perseverance displayed by them, 
in struggling against such appalling difficulties, must command universal admiration. 

••The furs collected by these means, at Avatscha and Ochotsk, the principal fiir- 
trading points, were carried to Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia, whence some of 
them were taken to Europe; the greater port ion were, however, sent to Kiakta, a small 
town just within the Russian frontier, close to the Chinese town of Maimatchin, through 
which places all the commerce between these two empires passed, agreeably to a treaty 
concluded at Kiakta in 1728. In return for the furs, which brought higher prices in 
China than anywhere else, teas, tobacco, rice, porcelain, and silk and cotton goods, were 
brought to Irkutsk, where all the most valuable of these articles were sent to Europe. 
These transportations were effected by land, except in some places where the rivers 
were u>e<l as the channel of conveyance, no commercial exportation having been made 
from Eastern Russia by sea before 1779 ; and when the immense distances between 
some of the points above mentioned are considered (Irkutsk to Pekin, 1,300 miles ; to 
Hay of Avatscha, 3,450 miles; to St. Petersburg, 3,760 miles), it becomes evident that 
none but objects of great value, in comparison with their bulk, at the place of their 
consumption, could have been thus transported with profit to those engaged in the 
trade, and that a large portion of the price paid by the consumer must have been ab- 
sorbed by the expense of transportation. A skin was, in fact, worth at Kiakta three 
times as much a- it cost at Ochotsk." 

Such was the crude beginning of that enormous trade in furs which in a few years 
sprang up in the Pacific, and for which English. American and Russian traders com- 
peted. China was then, and is to-day, the greatest consumer of furs, which were for 
years taken to Pekin overland, as described above; but in 1771 a cargo of peltries 
was taken direct to Canton under peculiar circumstances. In the month of May a 
few Polish exiles, sent to that bleak and inhospitable wilderness for political reasons, 
succeeded in escaping to sea in a small vessel from a harbor on the southwest coast of 
Kamtchatka, being led by Count Maurice de Benyowsky, a Hungarian. They entered 
the Pacific and after being driven hither and thither among the islands, stopping fre- 
quently to procure furs, they finally arrived at Canton, the first vessel from the North 
Pacific to reach any ports frequented by ships of other nations, demonstrating the fact 
that the icy waters about Kamtchatka and Alaska belong to the same great ocean as 



PACIFIC COAST. 

those of the South sea that Lashed the rocky blufls of Cape Horn, or lapped the sands 
of the Philippines. 

( >ther Russian voyages of exploration were made to the eastward of Kamtchatka 
in 17(><) and 1769 ; and in 1774 an official account of these voyages was published in 
St. Petersburg, entitled "Description of the Newly Discovered Islands in the Sea 
between Asia and America." This was accompanied by a map which embodied the 
ideas of Pacific coast geography which then prevailed. By it the American coast 
north of California was made to run northwesterly to the 70th parallel. Between this 
point and the coast of Asia was represented a broad open sea dotted with islands, many 
of which bore the same names and were identical with the larger ones of the Atlantic 
group, though by no means properly located. Alaska, or Aliaska, was represented as 
a great island with Asia on one side and America on the other, separated from Asia by 
the narrow channel of Behring's straits, and it was many years before it was known 
that Alaska was a portion of the main land of America. 



CHAPTER VI. 



SPANISH MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Spain Appeals to the Jesuits for Aid — The Society of Jesus— Plan of Father Kino — The Mission of Our Lady 
of Loretto Founded by Father Tierra— Attack upon the Mission — Method of Conducting Missionary Work — 
Expulsion of the Jesuits — The Pearl of Our Lady of Loretto — The Franciscans Invade Alta California — San 
Diego Founded by Father Junipero Serra Discovery of San Francisco Bay — The Mission at San Diego Saved 
from Abandonment by the timely Arrival of Supplies — Founding of Missions at Monterey and San Antonia de 
Padua— The Growth and Downfall of the Mission System. 

For a century and a half after Cortes planted the first colony on the peninsula of 
California, the viceroys of Mexico, in an indissolute manner, had undertaken to carry 
out the will of their sovereigns that colonies be established and maintained on the 
coast of California, but without success. When the Mexican authorities decided that 
such an undertaking was impossible of accomplishment, the government appealed to 
the powerful Society of Jesus to undertake the task, hoping thus to win by the cross 
what could not be conquered with the sword ; but an offer of $40,000 annually from 
the royal treasury to aid them in establishing missions was refused by the Jesuits, and 
the crown abandoned the hope of accomplishing anything whatever. 

At that time the Society of Jesus was the most wealthy and by reason of its 
secrecy and perfect discipline and the intelligence, devotion and influence of its mem- 
bers, the most powerful organization which has ever existed. It had its ramifications 
in every land where was the symbol of the cross, and its faithful subjects hesitated not 
to plunge into the unknown wildernesses of the New World to carry the light of Chris- 
tianity to the "nations sitting in darkness" far bevond the confines of civilization. 



PACIFIC COAST. 89 

Their lives weighed as nothing against the glory of their Heavenly Master and the 
extension of Christ's kingdom upon earth. It mattered no1 to what nation they be- 
longed, for the French priests in Canada and Louisiana dipslayed the same zeal as did 

the Spaniards in Mexico and California. They were imbued with the Bame spirit and 
BOUghl the same end — the extension of the kingdom of Jesus and the power of tin- 
order which bore his name. Though the government subsidy was declined from 

motives of policy, the conversion of these heathen nations was determined upon, to be 

accomplished by the society with its own resources. 

With the unsuccessful expedition of Admiral (Hondo was a monk who had volun- 
tarily abandoned a lucrative and honorable position to become an emissary of the cross. 
While lying at the point of death he bad made a vow to his patron Saint, Francis 
Xavicr. that if he should recover, be would devote the remaining years of his life to 
following the noble example of bis patron. He recovered, resigned his professorship, 
and crossed the sea to Mexico, and eventually became a missionary and one of the 
most zealous members of the Society of Jesus. He was a German by birth, and bis 
name in his native land was Knhn. but the Spaniards have recorded it as Father 
Eusebio Francisco Kino. He bad become strongly impressed in bis visit to the coun- 
try with the feasibility of a plan by which the land might be taken possession of and 
held. His object was not alone the conquest of a kingdom, but the conversion of its 
inhabitants, and the saving of souls. His plan w r as to go into the country and teach 
the Indians the principles of the Catholic faith, educate them to support themselves by 
tilling the soil, and improvement through the experience of the advantages to be ob- 
tained by industry; the end of all beiug to raise up a Catholic province for the Span- 
ish crown, and people Paradise with the souls of converted heathen. The means to be 
employed in accomplishing this, were the priests of the Society of Jesuits, protected by 
a -mall garrison of soldiers and sustained by contributions from those friendly to the 
enterprise. The mode of applying the means w r as, to first occupy some favorable place 
jn the country, where a storehouse and a church could be erected that would render 
the fathers' maintenance and life comparatively secure. This would give them an 
opportunity to win the confidence of the Indians, by a patient, long-continued, uniform 
system of affectionate intercourse and just dealing, and then use their appetites as the 
means by which to convert their souls. These establishments were to be gradually 
extended northward until Spain had control of the whole coast. 

With no hope of reward, except beyond the grave, but with a prospect of defeat 
and a probability of martyrdom, Father Kino started, on the twentieth of October, 
1686, to travel over Mexico, and, by preaching, urge his views and hopes of the enter- 
prise. He soon met on the way a congenial spirit, Father Juan Maria Salva Ticrra ; 
and then another, Father Juan Ugarte, added his great executive ability to the cause. 
Their united efforts resulted in obtaining sufficient funds by subscription. Then they 
procured a warrant from the king for the order of Jesuits to enter upon the conquest 
of California at their own expense, for the benefit of the crown. The order was 
given February 5, 1697, and it had required eleven years of constant urging to pro- 
cure it. October tenth, of the same year, Salva Tierra sailed from the coast of Mexico 
to put in operation Kino's long-cherished scheme' of conquest. The expedition con- 
sisted of one small vessel and a long-boat, in which were provisions, the necessary 



40 PACIFIC COAST. 

ornaments and furniture for fitting up a rude church, and Father Tierra, accompanied 
by six soldiers and three Indians. Father Tierra, afterwards visitadore general of the 
missions of California, was horn in Milan, of Spanish ancestry and noble parentage. 
Having completed Ins education he joined the Society of Jesus and went to Mexico as 
a missionary in 1675, where he had labored twenty-two years among the various 
native tribes. He was robust in health, exceedingly handsome in person, talented, 
firm and resolute, and filled to overflowing with that religious zeal which shrinks from 
no form of martyrdom. His associate, Father Juan Ugarte, was equally zealous and 
possessed of much skill in handling the stubborn and unreasoning natives. 

On the nineteenth of October, 1697, they reached the point selected on the east 
coast of the peninsula, and says Yenegas : " The provisions and animals were landed, 
together with the baggage ; the Father, though the head of the expedition, being the 
first to load his shoulders. The barracks for the little garrison were now built, and a 
line of circumvallation thrown up. In the center a tent was pitched for a temporary 
chapel ; before it was erected a crucifix, with a garland of flowers. 
The image of our Lady of Loretto, as patroness of the conquest, was brought in pro- 
cession from the boat, and placed with proper solemnity. Immediately Father Tierra 
initiated the plan of conversion. He called together the Indians, explained to them 
the catechism, prayed over the rosary, and then distributed among them a half bushel 
of boiled corn. The corn was a success, but the prayers and catechism were " bad 
medicine." They wanted more corn and less prayers, and helped themselves from the 
sacks. This was stopped by excluding them from the fort, and they w r ere kindly 
informed that corn would be forthcoming-only as a reward for attendance and. atten- 
tion at devotions. This created immediate hostility, and the natives formed a con- 
spiracy to murder the garrison and possess themselves of the corn without restrictions. 
Happily the design was discovered and frustrated. A general league was then entered 
into among several tribes, and a descent was made upon the fort by about five hundred 
Indians. The priest rushed upon the fortifications and warned them to desist, begging 
them to go away, telling them that they would be killed if they did not ; but his 
solicitude for their safety was responded to by a number of arrows from the natives, 
when he came down and the battle began in earnest. The assailants went down like 
grass before the scythe, as the little garrison opened with their fire-arms in volleys 
upon the unprotected mass, and they immediately beat a hasty retreat, and sent in one 
of their number to beg for peace, who, says Venegas : " With tears assured our men 
that it was those of the neighboring rancheria under him who had first formed the plot, 
and on account of the paucity of their numbers, had spirited up the other nations ; 
adding, that those being irritated by the death of their companions were for revenging 
them, but that both the one and the other sincerely repented of their attempt. A 
little while after came the women with their children, mediating a peace, as is the cus- 
tom of the country. They sat down weeping at the gate of the camp, with a thousand 
promises of amendment, and offering to give up their children as hostages for the 
performance. Father Salva Tierra heard them with his usual mildness, showing them 
the wickedness of the procedure, and if their husbands would behave better, promised 
them peace, an amnesty, and forgetful ness of all- that was past ; he also distributed 
among them several little presents, and to remove any mistrust they might have he 



PACIFIC COAST. 41 

look one of the children in hostage, and thus they returned in high spirits to the 
rancherias." The soldiers 1 guns had taught them respect, and the Backs of corn en- 
ticed them back for the priests to teach them the Catholic faith. 

The manner in which these indefatigable missionaries overcame the indolence, 
viciousness and ignorance of the Datives was practically the same as that pursued in 
all the minions afterwards established, and is thus described by Venegas : 

In the morning, after Baying mass, at which be (Father Ugarte) obliged them to attend with 
order ami respect, lie gave a breakfast of pozoli to those who were to work, set them about build- 
ing the church and houses for themselves and his Indians, clearing ground for cultivation, making 
trenches for conveyance of water, holes for planting trees, or digging and preparing the ground 
for sowing. In the building part. Father Ugarte was master, overseer, carpenter, bricklayer and 
laborer. For the Indians, though animated by his example, could neither by gifts nor kind 
speeches be prevailed iipon to shake off their innate sloth, and were sure to slacken if they did 
not see the father work harder than any of them; so he was the first in fetching stones, treading 
the clay, mixing the sand, cutting, carrying and barking the timber; removing the earth and fixing 
materials. He was equally laborious in the other tasks, sometimes felling the trees with his axe, 
sometimes with his spade in his hand digging up the earth, sometimes with an iron crow splitting 
rocks, sometimes disposing the water-trenches, sometimes leading the beasts and cattle, which he 
had procured for his mission, to pasture and water; thus by his own example, teaching the several 
kinds of labor. The Indians, whose narrow ideas and dullness could not at first enter into the 
utility of these fatigues, which at the same time deprived them of their customary freedom of 
roving among the forests, on a thousand occasions sufficiently tried his patience — coming late, not 
caring to stir, running away, jeering him and sometimes even forming combinations, and threat- 
ening death and destruction; all this was to be borne with unwearied patience, having no 
other recourse than affability and kindness, sometimes intermixed with gravity to strike respect; 
aiso taking care not to tire them, and suit himself to their weakness. In the evening the father 
led them a second time in their devotions; in which the rosaiy was prayed over, and the catechism 
explained; and the services was followed by the distribution of some provisions. At first they 
were very troublesome all the time of the sermon, jesting and sneering at what was said. This 
the father bore with for a while, and then proceeded to reprove them; but finding they were not 
to be kept in order, he make a very dangerous experiment of what could be done by fear. Near 
him stood an Indian in high reputation for strength, and who, presuming on his advantage, the 
only quality esteemed by them, took upon himself to be more rude than the others. Father Ugarte, 
who was a large man, and of uncommon strength, observing the Indian to be in the height of his 
laughter, and making signs of mockery to the others, seized him by the hair and lifting him up 
swung him to and fro; at this the rest ran away in the utmost terror. They soon returned, one 
after another, and the father so far succeeded to intimidate them that they behaved more regularly 
in the future. 

Of the same priest and his labors in starting another mission he says : 
He endeavored, by little presents and caresses, to gain the affections of his Indians; not so 
much that thej' should assist him in the building as that they might take a liking to the catechism, 
which he explained to them as well as he could, by the help of some Indians of Loretto, while he 
was perfecting himself in their 1 mguage. But his kindness was lost on the adults, who, from their 
invincible sloth, could not be brought to help him in any one thing, though they partook of, and 
used to be very urgent with him for pozoli and other eatables. He was now obliged to have 
recourse to the assistance of the boys, who, being allured by the father with sweetmeats and pres- 
ents, accompanied him wherever he would have them; and to habituate these to any work it was 
necessary to make use of artifice. Sometimes he laid a wager with them who should soonest pluck 
up the mesquites and small trees; sometimes he offered reward to those who took away most earth; 
and it suffices to say that in forming the bricks he made himself a boy with boys, challenged them 
to play with the earth, and dance upon the clay. The father used to take off his sandals and tread 
it, in which he was followed by the boys skipping and dancing on the clay and the father with them. 
The boys sang, and were highly delighted; the father also sang, and thus they continued dancing 



42 PACIFIC COAST. 

aucl treading the clay in different parts till meal-time. This enabled him to erect his poor dwelling 
and church, and at the dedication of which the other fathers assisted. He made use of several 
such contrivances in order to learn their language; first teaching the boys several Spanish words, 
that they might afterwards teach 1dm their language. When, by the help of these masters, the 
interpreters of Loretto, and his own observation and discourse with the adults, he had attained a 
sufficient knowledge of it, he began to catechise these poor gentiles, using a thousand endearing 
ways, that they should come to the catechism. He likewise made use of his boys for carrying on 
their instruction. Thus, with invincible patience and firmness under excessive labors, he went on 
humanizing the savages who lived on the spot, those of the neighboring rancherias, and others, 
whom he sought among woods, breaches and caverns; going about everywhere, that he at length 
administered baptism to many adults, and brought this new settlement into some form. 

This plan of subduing the natives and obtaining spiritual and temporal control 
over them was adhered to for seventy years. The expense of this great undertaking 
can be gathered from the record of the first eight years, during which $58,000 were 
expended in establishing six missions and $1,225,000 in supporting the indolent 
savages dependent upon them. 

On the second of April, 1767, all members of the Society of Jesus in the Spanish 
dominions were arrested and thrown into prison upon the order of Charles III., against 
whose life they were charged with conspiring. Nearly six thousand were subjected to 
that decree, including the Jesuit missionaries in California and other dependencies of 
Spain. The execution of the decree in California fell to the lot of Don Gaspar Portala, 
governor of the province, who assembled the pious Fathers at Loretto on Christmas 
eve and imparted to them the sad news of which they had till then been entirely 
ignorant. When the time came for them to take their final departure from the scene 
of seventy years of labor and self-abnegation a most pathetic scene was enacted. With 
loud cries and lamentations the people broke through the line of soldiers stationed to 
hold them back, and rushed upon the Fathers to kiss their hands and bid them fare- 
well. "Adieu, dear Indians; adieu,- California; adieu, land of our adoption; fiat 
voluntas Dei" was the brief and eloquent farewell of those fifteen holy men, as they 
turned their backs upon the scene of their long labors and became wanderers and out- 
casts, under the ban of the sovereign whose power they had established where he had 
sought in vain to plant it for a century and a half. They left behind them the record 
of having become the pioneers in the culture of the grape and in the making of wine 
on this coast, having sent to Mexico their vintage as early as 1706. They were the 
pioneer manufacturers, having taught the Indians the use of the loom in the manufac- 
ture of cloth as early as 1707. They built, in 1719, the first vessel ever launched from 
the soil of California, calling it the Triumph of the Cross. Two of their number suf- 
fered martyrdom at the hands of the Indians, and the living were rewarded for those 
years of toil, privation and self-sacrifice, by banishment from the land they had sub- 
dued ; leaving, for their successors, sixteen flourishing missions, and thirty-six villages, 
as testimonials of the justice and wisdom of their rule. 

The historic village of Loretto, where was established the initial mission of Cali- 
fornia, is situated on the margin of the gulf, in the center of St. Dyonissius cove. Some 
of the buildings are now a mass of ruins, while others are fast going to decay, many 
being destroyed by the great storm of 1827. The church built by the Jesuits in 1742 
is still standing, and among the relics of its former greatness are eighty-six oil paint- 
ings, some of them by Murillo, and though more than a century old still in a good 



PACIFIC COAST. 43 

state of preservation. It was a former custom of the pearl divers to devote the product 
of certain days to "Our Lady of Loretto," and on one occasion there fell to her lot a 
magnificent pearl as large as a pigeon's egg and wonderfully pure and brilliant. This 
the Fathers thought proper to present to the Queen of Spain, who in return sent to 
our Lady of Loretto an elegant new gown ; but as this could not be worn by the virgin 
in the spirit land and was not of the style of garment most in fashion at Loretto, it was 
of no practical utility, and there is reason to believe that her majesty had the better of 
the transaction. 

Upon the Brotherhood of St Francis the king bestowed the missions and accumu- 
lated wealth of the Jesuits in California ; but soon after possession was taken by them 
the Dominicans laid claim to a portion. The controversy ended in the surrender by 
the Franciscans of all rights granted them in Lower California upon the condition that 
they be granted full authority in Alta California to found missions and take possession 
of the country in the name of the Catholic sovereign of Spain. They hoped thus to 
become possessed of a land where legend and imagination had located the rich mines of 
gold and silver from which had come the vast treasures of which Cortes had despoiled 
the Aztecs ; and in thus gaining wealth for their order they would also spread the story 
of the cross and bring within the pale of the Holy Catholic Church thousands of souls 
then groping in the darkness of heathenism. 

Father Francis Junipero Serra, at the head of the Franciscan order in Mexico, 
was a man cast in no common mould. He was educated from his youth to the church, 
was possessed of great eloquence, enthusiasm and magnetic jDower, and had gained 
reputation and experience in the missions of Mexico. Peculiarly fitted for the work 
before him, he entered upon it with a zeal that admitted not of failure or defeat. It 
was his plan to establish missions at San Diego, Monterey and some intermediate point 
immediately, and extend them gradually as circumstances should dictate. In pursu- 
ance of this programme an expedition was dispatched in 1769 to settle and take 
possession of California, with the purpose, as Joseph DeGalvez states it, " to establish 
the Catholic religion among a numerous heathen people, submerged in the obscure 
darkness of paganism ; to extend the dominion of the King, our Lord ; and to protect 
the peninsula from the ambitious rulers of foreign nations." This was to be done by 
the Franciscans, according to the royal decree, at their own expense, though the bene- 
fits were to inure chiefly to the crown of Spain, whose dominion was to be largely 
increased and a greater measure of protection afforded the American possessions and 
commerce. 

It was deemed advisable to divide the expedition, and send a portion of it by sea 
in their three vessels, leaving the remainder to go from Mexico overland by way of 
the most northerly of the old missions. Accordingly, on the ninth of January, 1769, 
the ship San Carlos sailed from La Paz, followed on the fifteenth of February by the 
San Antonio. The last to sail was the San Joseph, on the sixteenth of June, and she 
was never heard from afterwards. The vessels were all loaded with provisions, numer- 
ous seeds, grain to sow, farming utensils, church ornaments, furniture and passengers, 
their destination being the port of San Diego. The first to reach that place was the 
San Antonio, which arrived on the eleventh of April, after losing eight of her crew 
by the scurvy. Twenty days later the San Carlos made her laborious way into port, 



44 PACIFIC COAST. 

with only the captain, the cook and one seaman left of her crew, the others having 
fallen victims to that terrible scourge of the early navigators. 

The overland party was also divided into two companies ; one, under command of 
Fernanda Eevera Moncada, was to assemble at the northern limit of the peninsula, 
where was located the most northerly mission, and take two hundred head of black 
cattle over the country to San Diego, the point where all were to meet in the new 
land to be subdued. Revera set out on the twenty-fourth of March, and was the first 
European to cross the southern deserts, guarding approaches from that direction to 
the upper coast. He reached the point of general rendezvous on the fourteenth 
of May, after having spent fifty-one days in the journey. The governor of Cali- 
fornia, Gaspar de Portala, took command of the remaining part of the land 
expedition, and started May fifteenth, from the same place on the frontier that had 
been Revera's point of departure, He was accompanied by the projector of the en- 
terprise, Father Junipero Serra himself, and arrived at San Diego on the first of July, 
where this, the last company to reach the rendezvous, was received with great demon- 
strations of joy by those who had arrived by sea and land many long weeks before. 

The members of the several divisions, with the exception of those who died at 
sea, were now all on the ground at San Diego, and Father Junipero was not a man to 
waste time. In looking over his resources for accomplishing the work before him, 
he found that, he had, including converted Indians who had accompanied him, about 
two hundred and fifty souls, and everything necessary for the founding of the three 
missions, the cultivation of the soil, grazing the land and exploring the coast, except 
sailors and provisions. So many of the former having died on the voyage, it was 
deemed advisable for those who remained to sail on the San Antonio for San Bias, to 
procure more seamen and supplies. They accordingly put to sea for that purpose on 
the ninth of July, and nine of the crew died before the port was reached. The next 
thing in order was to found a mission at San Diego, and it will be interesting to know 
what was the ceremony which constituted the founding of a mission. Father Francis 
Palou, the historian, of the Franciscans, thus describes it : " They immediately set 
about taking possession of the soil in the name of our Catholic monarch, and thus laid 
the foundation of the mission. The sailors, muleteers and servants set about clearing 
away a place which was to serve as temporary church, hanging the bells (on the limb 
of a tree, possibly) and forming a grand cross. The venerable 

father president blessed the holy water, and with this the rite of the church and then 
the holy cross ; which, being adorned as usual, was planted in front of the church. 
Then its patron saint was named, and having chanted the first mass, the venerable 
president pronounced a most fervent discourse on the coming of the Holy Spirit and 
the establishment of the mission. The sacrifice of the mass being concluded, the 
Veni Creator was then sung ; the want of an organ and other musical instruments 
being supplied by the continued discharge of firearms during the ceremony, and the 
want of incense, of which they had none, by the smoke of the muskets." 

This ceremony was performed on the sixteenth day of July, 1769. Two days 
prior to that Governor Portala had started northward with the greater j)ortion of the 
force to re-discover the port of Monterey. For three and one-half months he pursued 
his slow, tortuous way up the coast, passing Monterey without recognizing it. On the 






Y * 




* A * S 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be inserted at a future date. 



PACIFIC COAST. 45 

thirtieth of October they came ujdoii a bay which Father Crespi, who accompanied the 
expedition, says " they at once recognized." What caused them to recognize it? Had 
they ever heard of it before ? This is the first unquestioned record of the discovery of 
the San Francisco harbor. In all the annals of history there is no evidence of its 
ever having been seen before, except that sailing chart previously mentioned. Yet the 
exception is evidence strong as holy writ, that in 1740 the bay had been found but had 
received no recorded name. Portala and his followers believed a miracle had been 
performed, that the discovery was due to the hand of Providence, and that St. Francis 
had led them to the place. When they saw this land-locked bay in all its slumbering 
grandeur, they remembered that, before leaving Mexico, Father Junipero had been 
grieved because the vistadore general had not placed their patron saint upon the list 
of names for the missions to be founded in the new country, and when reminded of 
the omission by the sorrowing priest, he had replied solemnly, as from matured reflec- 
tion : " If St. Francis wants a mission, let him show you a good port, and we will put 
one there." "A good port" had been found — one where the fleets of the world could 
ride in safety, and they said " St. Francis has led us to his harbor," and they called it 
" San Francisco Bay." 

Portala returned to San Diego, arriving January 24, 1770, where he found a very 
discouraging condition of affairs. The small band left at San Diego had passed 
through perils and difficulties of which it is unnecessary to speak in detail ; but the 
stubborn bravery and uniform kindness of the missionaries had brought them safely 
through. There now threatened a danger that unless averted would disastrously 
terminate the expedition. Portala took an inventory of supplies and found there 
remained only enough to last the expedition until March ; and he dicided that if none 
arrived by sea before the twentieth of that month, to abandon the enterprise and 
return to Mexico. The day came, and with it, in the offing, in plain view of all, a 
vessel. Preparations had been completed for the abandonment, but it was postponed 
because of the appearance of the outlying ship. The next day it was gone, and the 
colony believed then that a miracle had been performed, and their patron saint had 
permitted the sight of the vessel that they might know that help was coming. In a 
few days the San Antonio sailed into the harbor with abundant stores, and they learned 
that the vision they had looked upon was the vessel herself; she having been forced 
by adverse winds to put to sea again, after coming in sight of land. 

Upon the arrival of the San Antonio, two other expeditions set out, in search of 
Monterey harbor, one by sea and another by land, the latter in charge of Governor 
Portala. The party by sea was accompanied by the father president himself, who 
Avrites of that voyage, and its results, as follows : " On the thirty-first day of May, 
by the favor of God, after a rather painful voyage of a month and a half, this packet, 
San Antonio, arrived and anchored in this horrible port of Monterey, which is unal- 
tered in any degree from what it was when visited by the expedition of Don Sebastian 
Viscaino, in the year 1603." He goes on to state that he found the governor awaiting 
him, having reached the place eight days earlier. He then describes the manner of 
taking possession of the land for the crown on the third day of August. This cere- 
mony was attended b}^ salutes from the battery on board ship, and discharges of 
musketry by the soldiers, until the Indians in the vicinity were so thoroughly fright- 



46 PACIFIC COAST. 

ened at the noise as to cause a stampede among them for the interior, from whence 
they were afterwards enticed with difficulty. This was soon followed by the founding 
of the mission of San Antonio de Padua. 

Governor Portala then returned to Mexico, bearing the welcome intelligence that 
Monterey had been re-discovered, that a much finer bay had also been found farther 
north which they had named after St. Francis, and that three missions had been 
established in the new land. Upon receipt of the news, the excitement in Mexico was 
intense. Guns were fired, bells were rung, congratulatory speeches were made, and 
all New Spain was happy, because of the final success of the long struggle to gain a 
footing north of the peninsula. 

It is needless to follow in detail the record of the Franciscans in California, their 
labors, privations and successs. A brief summary of their rise, growth and downfall 
will be sufficient to enable the reader to understand all allusions to them in the subse- 
quent pages. 

By the same methods the Jesuits had practiced in Lower California, did the 
Franciscans seek to establish their missions on a firmer footing, suffering frequently 
from the hostility of the natives, but gradually overcoming all obstacles and creating 
populous and prosperous missions and towns. The mission of San Diego was founded 
July 16, 1769 ; San Carlos, at Monterey, August 3, 1770 ; San Antonio de Padua, 
July 14, 1771 ; San Gabriel, near Los Angeles, September 8, 1771 ; San Luis Obispo, 
in September, 1772. Father Serra then went to Mexico for reinforcements and sup- 
plies, and returned the next spring by sea, having sent Captain Juan Bautista Anza 
with some soldiers to open an overland route by which more rapid and certain commu- 
nication could be maintained with the home country. In 1774 Captain Anza returned 
to Mexico for more soldiers, priests and supplies, and after the arrival of these it was 
determined to enlarge the field of operations to the northward. The San Carlos was 
dispatched to see if the Bay of San Francisco could be entered from the ocean, and 
in June, 1775, the little vessel sailed safely through the Golden Gate and cast anchor 
where so many thousand vessels have since been securely sheltered. On the seven- 
teenth of September, 1776, the presidio (fort) was established at San Francisco, and on 
the tenth of October the misson of Dolores was founded, followed in quick succession by 
those of San Juan Capistrano and Santa Clara. 

From this time the missions grew rapidly in power and wealth, and pueblos 
(towns) sprang up, occupied chiefly by the families of soldiers who had served their 
terms in the army and preferred to remain in California. Gradually population in- 
creased, until in 1802 Humboldt estimated it at 1,300, to which he added 15,562 con- 
verted Indians, taking no account of the wild or unsubdued tribes, which we know 
from other sources largely outnumbered those brought within the influence of the mis- 
sions. By 1822, the year Mexico declared her independence of Spain, twenty-one 
missions had been founded and were in a prosperous condition. Two years later 
Mexico adopted a republican form of government, and from that time dates the down- 
fall of the missionary system. The Franciscans had complete control of the land, 
claiming it as trustees for the benefit of converted natives, and discouraged all at- 
tempts at colonization as calculated to weaken their power and frustrate their designs. 
When, therefore, in 1824, the Mexican congress passed a colonization act, giving the 



PACIFIC COAST. 47 

governor of California power to make grants of land to actual settlers, it was considered 
a direct and fatal blow at the mission monopoly. From this time the missions were a 
leading element in Mexican politics, and they gradually declined before the encroach- 
ments of the civil power until, in 1845, the property which had survived the pillage 
and decay of the previous ten years was sold at auction, and the missions were at an 
end. A year later the inauguration of the Bear Flag war by Fremont was followed by 
the conquest of the country from Mexico, and California, redeemed from anarchy 
misrule and revolution, became a portion of the United States. 



CHAPTER VII. 



DISCOVERIES WESTWARD FROM THE ATLANTIC. 

Foreign claims in America — Florida, Mexico, California, Alaska, Louisiana, Canada, and the English Colonie s — 
Treaty of Ryswick — Treaty of Utrecht — Sale of Louisiana to Spain — Carver's Explorations on the Mississippi 
— Oregon, the River of the West — Origin of the Name — Journey of Samuel Hearne to the Arctic Ocean — 
England offers a Reward for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage. 

To understand in their full significance the motives and acts of the various nations 
contending for dominion in the Pacific, the status of their claims throughout America 
must be kept carefully in view. England had colonies along the Atlantic coast from 
Maine to Carolina and had full possession of the vast region about Hudson's bay. 
France held possession of Louisiana, extending from the mouth of the Mississippi in- 
definitely northward and westward, and of the St. Lawrence and the great region lying 
to the westward embraced under the general title of Canada , and by exploring to the 
west along and beyond the great lakes and north along the Mississippi, had thus 
united Canada and Louisiana and rendered the Alleghanies the extreme western limit 
of England's Atlantic colonies. Spain had undisputed possession of Central America. 
Mexico, California and Florida ; Avhile Russia claimed Alaska and the adjacent islands, 
The boundary line between these various possessions was extremely uncertain and con- 
tinued to be for years a fruitful source of trouble and a theme for diplomatic contro- 
versy. 

In 1697 the treaty of Ryswick was concluded, which was intended to define, as 
clearly as the knowledge of American geography would permit, the boundaries of these 
various possessions. Spanish Florida was then limited on the north by the Carolina 
colonies, while its western limit was left exceedingly indefinite, conflicting severely 
with the French claim to Louisiana. North of Florida and west of the Alleghanies 
France claimed the entire country, either as a portion of Louisiana or Canada, includ- 
ing Hudson's bay, the latter claim being based upon the explorations of Labrador by 
Cortereal. At the treaty oi Utrecht in 1713, following a disastrous struggle with 



48 PACIFIC COAST. 

Great Britain, France relinquished her claim to Hudson's bay, Newfoundland and 
Nova Scotia. During the next quarter of a century the energetic Frenchmen estab- 
lished a chain of forts and settlements from Quebec to New Orleans, taking absolute 
and actual possession of the country and cutting off the westward extension of Florida 
on the one hand and the northeastern limits of Mexico and California on the other. 

Thus matters stood until the disastrous war between England and France involved 
the American colonies in bloody strife and turned over the exposed settlements to the 
tender mercies of the Indian tomahawk and scalping knife. Worsted in the strife, 
France, after her colonial star was stricken from the sky by the gallant Wolfe on the 
Plains of Abraham, but before the final seal to her defeat was affixed by the treaty of 
Paris, secretly conveyed to Spain her province of Louisiana, and thus robbed her 
victorious enemy of one of the greatest fruits of her conquest. The terms of the 
conveyance, made in 1762, defined the western and southern limit of Louisiana and 
the eastern and northern boundary of Mexico and California, to follow the course of 
the Sabine river from its mouth to latitude 32 degrees, thence north to the Red river, 
and following that stream to longitude 23 degrees, thence north to the Arkansas and 
up that river to latitude 42 degrees, which line it followed to the Pacific. It was thus 
that even after the acquisition of Canada, England found her possessions bounded on 
the west by the great " Father of Waters." This was the situation in America when 
the Russians opened the Alaskan fur trade and Spain perfected her claim to Cali- 
fornia by planting there the missions of St. Francis. 

It was now a century since the Hudson's Bay Company was chartered, and it had 
not yet discovered the northwest passage, though that was the leading object stated in 
the charter ; nor, indeed, had the company made any earnest effort so to do. The belief 
still obtained that the Straits of Anian existed, or, at least, that some great river, such 
a stream, possibly, as the Rio de los Reyes, could be found flowing into the Pacific, 
which was navigable eastward to within a few miles of some harbor accessible to 
vessels from the Atlantic. If either of these existed, they were naturally to be looked 
for in the region dominated by the great fur monopoly. The discovery of such a 
means of communication was earnestly desired by the English crown, yet the com- 
pany was sufficiently powerful to prevent or at least render fruitless all efforts to 
explore its dominions. All explorations that gave any new geographical light were 
conducted beyond the company's domain and contrary to its desires. 

It has been shown how the headwaters of the Mississippi had been visited by 
French missionaries and explorers, both from Canada and Louisiana, who had estab- 
lished a fur trade with the natives of considerable value. Immediately after Canada 
fell into the hands of the English, an expedition was made into that region by Captain 
Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, who had served with distinction in the war 
against France so recently brought to a successful termination. He left Boston in 
1766, and traveling by the way of Detroit and Fort Michilimacinac, reached the 
headwaters of the Mississippi. The object of his journey, as stated in his account, 
was, " after gaining a knowledge of the manners, customs, languages, soil and natural 
productions of the different nations that inhabit the back of the Mississippi, to ascer- 
tain the breadth of the vast continent which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
ocean, in its broadest part, between the 43d and 46th degrees of north latitude. Had 



PACIFIC COAST. 49 

I been able to accomplish this, I intended to have proposed to the government to 
establish a post in some of those parts, about the Straits of Anian, which, having been 
discovered bv Sir Francis Drake, of course belongs to the English. This I am con- 
vinced, would greatly facilitate the discovery of a northwest passage, or communication 
between Hudson's bay and the Pacific ocean." His idea that the Straits of Anian, or 
any other passage inland from the Pacific, had been discovered by Drake was an 
exceedingly erroneous one. 

Just how far west Carver penetrated is uncertain, and his claim of a residence of 
five months in that region is a doubtful one, since the accounts of the manners and cus- 
toms of the natives given in his narrative (published twenty -five years later in London 
at the suggestion of a number of gentlemen who hoped the proceeds of its sale would 
be sufficient to relieve the author's necessities; he died in 1780, in penury), are but 
translations into English of the writings of Hennepin, Lahontan, Charlevoix and 
other French explorers. To him, however, must be credited the first use of the 
name "Oregon," which is given in the following connection : " From these natives, 
together with my own observations, I have learned that the four most capital rivers 
on the continent of North America — viz., the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the River 
Bourbon (Red River of the North), and the Oregon, or River of the West — have 
their sources in the same neighborhood. The waters of the three former are within 
thirty miles of each other ; [This is practically correct, and this point, somewhere in 
Western Minnesota, is probably the limit of his westward journey.] the latter, how- 
ever, is rather further west, This shows that these parts are the highest in North 
America ; and it is an instance not to be paralleled in the other three quarters of the 
world, that four rivers of such magnitude should take their rise together, and each, 
after running separate courses, discharge their waters into different oceans, at the dis- 
tance of two thousand miles from their sources, for in their passage from this spot to 
the Bay of St. Lawrence, east, to the Bay of Mexico, south, to Hudson's Bay, north, 
and to the bay at the Straits of Anian, west, each of these traverse upwards of two 
thousand miles." 

It will be observed that Carver lays no claim to having visited even the head- 
waters of the "Oregon, or River of the West," and the probability is that all he knew 
of it was gathered from the same works of the French explorers which had supplied 
the other leading features of his book, though, possibly, like them, he may have heard 
such a stream spoken of by the Indians. In many of these French narratives to 
which he had access, a belief is asserted in the existence of a large stream flowing- 
westward from the vicinity of the headwaters of the Mississippi into the Pacific, 
founded upon information given by the natives ; and on many maps of the eighteenth 
century such a stream was indicated, bearing variously the names " River of the 
West," "River Thegayo" " Rio de los Reyes," and " River of Aguilar" (the one whose 
mouth Aguilar reported having seen in latitude 43 degrees in the year 1603.) All 
that was new in Carver's account was the name " Oregon," and of that he fails to give 
us any idea of its meaning or origin. Many theories have been advanced, plausible 
and even possible, but none of them susceptible of proof, and the probabilities are that 
the word is one of Carver's own invention. The fact that he stands sponsor for the 
name of this great region, is all that entitles Carver and his plagiarisms to any notice 



50 PACIFIC COAST. 

in this volume whatever. The first definite account of the River of the West was one 
given by a Yazoo Indian to Lepagn Dupratz, a French traveler, many years before 
Carver's journey. The Indian asserted that he had ascended the Missouri north- 
westerly to its source, and that beyond this he encountered another great river flowing 
towards the setting sun, down which he passed until his progress was arrested by hos- 
tilities existing between the tribes living along the stream. He participated in the 
war, and in a certain battle his party captured a woman of a tribe living further west, 
from whom he learned that the river entered a great water where ships had been seen 
sailing and in them were men with beards and white faces. There is nothing improb- 
able in this narrative, in the light of ascertained geographical facts, unless it be the 
portion relating to ships; even that is possible, or may, perhaps, be simply an embel- 
lishment of the story by the Indian or Dupratz. Several maps published about fifteen 
years prior to Carver's journey, on the authority of this narrative, had marked upon 
them such a stream with the name " Great River of the West" attached to it. This 
fully accounts for the valiant captain's knowledge of such a stream, though it clears 
up none of the darkness surrounding the title " Oregon." 

In 1771 the Hudson's Bay Company sent Samuel Hearne on a tour of explora- 
tion of the regions lying to the westward of the bay, for the purpose of finding a rich 
mine of copper which the Indians had frequently spoken of and whose name translated 
into English, was The Far-off Metal River. He was also instructed to determine 
the question of a passage westward from Hudson's bay, in whose existence the directors 
had now no faith whatever, and in consequence were anxious to make a showing of 
great zeal in searching for it. Hearne discovered Great Slave lake and its connecting 
rivers and lakes, finally reaching the Coppermine river and following the stream to its 
point of discharge into the Arctic ocean. This body of water he conceived and re- 
ported to be a great inland sea of a character similar to Hudson's bay, between which 
two bodies of water there was evidently no connecting passage. He also learned from 
the natives that the land extended a great distance further west, beyond high moun- 
tains. The result of his journey, since it tended to prove that no passage to the Pacific 
from Hudson's bay could be possible, was quickly communicated to the British Admi- 
ralty by the company, though the journal kept by Hearne was not published for the 
benefit of the public till twenty years later. 

The Admiralty were now satisfied that a further search for a strait leading west- 
ward from Hudson's bay would be futile; but, still hoped that a navigable passage 
could be found leading from Baffin's bay into the sea discovered by Hearne and still 
another one from this new ocean into the Pacific. Parliament had in 1845 offered a 
reward of £20,000 to anyone discovering a passage from Hudson's bay, which the 
company had carefully rendered nugatory, and now Parliament, in 1776, again passed 
an act offering a like reward to any English vessel entering and passing through any 
strait, or in any direction, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, north of latitude 52 
degrees, which was about the southern limit of Hudson's bay. This led to a series of 
voyages by English navigators in the Pacific ocean, stimulated especially by the 
reports which about that time reached England of voyages and settlements made by 
representatives of Spain. The era of positive discoveries in Oregon was coming on 
apace. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



EXPLORATIONS BY LAND AND SEA. 

Struggle Between England and Spain for Dominion on the Pacific Coast — Juan Perez Discovers Port San Lorenzo 
or Nootka Sound — Martinez Claims to Have Seen the Straits of Fuca — Spanish Explorers Take Possession 
of the Country at theBay of Trinidad — Fruitless Search for the Straits of Fuca — Heceta Discovers the Mouth 
of the Columbia and Names it San Roque Inlet — Bodega takes Formal Possession on George III.'s Archipelago 
and Searches for the Rio de los Reyes — He also takes Possession on Prince of Wales Island — Vain Search 
for Aguilar's River on the Coast of Oregon — Discovery of Bodega Bay — Practical Result of these Voyages and 
England's Solicitude — Voyage of Captain James Cook — Discovery of Hawaiian Islands—Cook at Nootka 
Sound — He Passes Through Behring's Straits into the Arctic Ocean — Death of Cook — Return of the Expedi- 
tion-Arteaga and Bodega Follow Cook's Route. 

The proceedings of the Spanish nation which had aroused England to such un- 
usual activity in exploring the northwest, were the colonization of California by the 
Franciscans which has already been spoken of, and several voyages and efforts to take 
possession of the coast still further to the north which were made soon afterwards. The 
struggle between England and Spain for dominion in the unexplored portion of the 
Xew World had begun in earnest, and was embittered by the chagrin of the latter at 
the manner in which Louisiana had slipped from her clutch when France sold it to 
Spain just as it was about to be snatched from her grasp. 

The first of these voyages, and it must be remembered the first voyage of explora - 
tion undertaken by Spain along the northern coast for one hundred and seventy-one 
years, was that of Juan Perez, who was instructed to sail as far north as the 60th par- 
allel, and to then explore the coast southward, landing at all convenient places to take 
possession of the country in the name of the king of Spain. On the twenty-fifth of 
January, 1774, Perez sailed from San Bias in the corvette Santiago, piloted by Estivan 
Martinez, and stopped both at San Diego and Monterey, sailing from the latter port on 
the sixteenth of June. Thirty-two days later he espied the first land seen since leav- 
ing Monterey, in latitude 54 degrees, probably the west coast of Queen Charlotte's 
island. Simptoms of scurvy beginning to be observed among the crew, and being but 
poorly supplied with the requisites for a long voyage, Perez decided not to attempt 
further progress north in his little vessel, and so coasted along to the southward. He 
proceeded about a hundred miles, encountering a number of natives in their canoes, 
with whom he drove a profitable trade in furs, and was then driven to sea by a storm. 
He again discovered land on the ninth of August, casting anchor at the entrance-of a 
deep bay in latitude 49 degrees and 30 minutes upon which, following the custom which 
has plastered the map of the Pacific coast with "Sans" and " Santas," he bestowed, 
the name Port San Lorenzo, because it was discovered upon the day specially de- 
voted to that saint in the Roman calendar. It was beyond doubt the harbor on the 
west coast of Vancouver island now known as King George's or Nootka sound. Hav- 






52 PACIFIC COAST. 

ing enjoyed a profitable trade with the natives, who are represented as being of a much 
lighter complexion than other native Americans, Perez weighed anchor and sailed 
again to the southward. In latitude 47 degrees and 47 minutes a lofty, snow-crowned 
peak was observed, which was christened Sierra de Santa Rosalia, being, probably, 
the one subsequently named Mount Olympus by English explorers. On the twenty- 
first of August Perez arrived off Cape Mendocino, whose exact latitude he then de- 
termined, and a week later dropped anchor in the harbor of Monterey. This voyage 
added but little to the geographical knowledge of the coast, since no thorough explora- 
tions were made and land was observed only in a few places. In the journal of the 
voyage nothing is said of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and yet, many years later and 
long after the strait had been entered by the English and Puget sound explored, the 
pilot of the Santiago, Martinez, asserted that he had observed a wide opening in the 
land between latitudes 48 and 49 degrees, and that he had honored the point of land on 
the south side of the entrance wdth his own name. Upon the strength of this long-de- 
layed assertion, Spanish geographers entered upon their charts as Cape Martinez the 
point of land now universally known as Cape Flattery. 

The return of Perez with the information that America extended at least as far 
north as the latitude 54 degrees, determined the Mexican viceroy to dispatch another 
expedition in quest of still further discoveries as far as the 65th parallel. The Santiago, 
commanded by Bruno Heceta and piloted by Perez, and the Sonora, a small schooner 
under the command of Juan de Ayala and having Antonio Manrelle for a pilot, sailed 
from San Bias March 15, 1775, being supplied with the latest chart of the Pacific, in 
which the reports of the various voyages were woven together by the fertile imagination 
of Bellin, a French geographer. They were accompanied as far as Monterey by the 
San Carlos, to which vessel Ayala was transferred before reaching that port, and the 
command of the Sonora devolved upon Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y 
Quadra. 

Sailing from Monterey to the northward, the two vessels doubled Cape Mendocino 
and anchored on the tenth of June in a roadstead, which was named Port Trinidad, 
for the usual reason that the day was the one devoted to the Trinity on the calendar, 
that fertile source of Spanish nomenclature. Nine days later the voyage up the coast 
was resumed, though not until the Spaniards had landed and with proper solemnity 
and religious ceremonies taken possession of the country in the name of their sovereign, 
including the planting of a cross with appropriate inscriptions as a testimonial monu- 
ment of their visit, They described the harbor as being safe, spacious and a valuable 
one to commerce, and the contiguous country agreeable in climate and having a fruitful 
soil ; and this discovery was considered by Spanish authorities to be an exceedingly 
valuable one. 

Having kept out to sea for three weeks, they again sighted land in latitude 48 de- 
grees and 27 minutes, just south of the Straits of Fuca. Since the Greek pilot had 
located his passage between latitudes 47 and 48 degrees, as will be remembered, in 
which locality it was indicated on their chart, the explorers naturally coasted to the 
southward in searching for it, thus sailing directly away from its entrance. A careful 
examination of the coast revealed no such passage, and, satisfied that it had no exis- 
tence, they cast anchor near a small island off the coast in latitude 47 degrees and 20 




>'■"■ -■' . ■'"■'■■ 



PACIFIC COAST. 53 

minutes. Here seven of the Sonora's crew, who were sent to the mainland to procure 
water in the only boat the vessel carried, were killed by the natives ; and the island 
was christened Isla de Dolores, or Island of Sorrows, being the same one afterwards 
called Destruction Island by an English captain, because of a similar fate which 
befel a portion of his crew. 

Disheartened by this disaster and observing alarming symptoms of scurvy among 
his crews, Heceta desired to return, but at the urgent solicitation of the other officers 
reluctantly consented to continue the voyage northward. A few days later a severe 
storm parted the vessels, and Heceta then abandoned the enterprise and started to 
return with the /Santiago to Monterey. He soon observed land on the ocean 
side of Vancouver island, in latitude 50 degrees, and passing by Port San Lorenzo 
and the entrance to Juan de Fuca straits without observing them, he again saw the 
coast in the 48th parallel, south of which he once more searched for the passage he 
had so carelessly overlooked. On the fifteenth of August, 1775, he came opposite an 
opening in the land in latitude 46 degrees and 17 minutes, through which poured a 
stream of water so forcibly as to prevent him from entering. Satisfied that he was at 
the outlet to a great river, or, possibly, the Straits of Fuca, though too far south 
for this according to his chart, Heceta waited a day with the hope of effecting an 
entrance ; but in this he was doomed to disappointment, and abandoning the effort he 
continued his voyage to Monterey, carefully observing the intervening coast, of which 
his journal contains extremely accurate descriptions. The Catholic calendar was 
again brought into requisition to supply a name for this new discovery, and since the 
fifteenth of August was the day of the Assumption, Heceta called it Enseiiada de 
Asuncion (Assumption inlet); the sixteenth being set ajDart to Saint Roc, he called 
the northern promontory Cape San Roque, while to the low land on the south side 
of the entrance he gave the name Cape Frondoso (Leafy cape). Beyond question 
this was the first discovery of the mouth of the mighty Columbia, and Mexican charts, 
published soon after the return of Heceta, had indicated upon them an entrance to 
the land at that point, variously denominated Enseiiada de Heceta, and Rio de 
San Roque. 

In the meantime Bodega and Maurelle were persevering in their attempt to 
carry out the original plan of the expedition, and were still endeavoring to reach the 
65th parallel in the little Sonora. On the sixteenth of August they suddenly 
came in sight of land both to the north and east of them, being then, according to 
their observations, north of latitude 56 degrees, and at a point which their chart told 
them was 135 leagues distant from the American shore. This jiroved to be the large 
island known as King George Ill's Archipelago, though supposed by the Span- 
iards to be a portion of the main land. A large mountain rising from a jutting head- 
land and draped in snow, was called by them San Jacinto, though it was a few years 
later named Mount Edgecumb by Captain Cook. The Spaniards landed to take 
formal possession of the country for the Spanish crown and to procure a supply of fish 
and water, to both of which proceedings the natives fiercely objected, compelling the 
intruders to pay liberally for the fish, and the water as well, and derisively tearing up 
and destroying the cross and other symbolic monuments the would-be possessors of 
their land had erected. The voyage northward was resumed, but upon reaching lati- 



54 



PACIFIC COAST. 



tude 58 degrees Bodega deemed it imprudent to advance farther and turned again to the 
southward. From that point to the 54th parallel the coast was closely scrutinized for 
the Rio de los Reyes of Admiral Fonte, but as the romancing admiral had located his 
mythical river a degree farther south their search would have proven in vain even had 
the stream an existence beyond its creator's fancy, and therefore their assertion that 
no such river existed north of latitude 54 degrees was valueless to prove Fonte's great 
water route from the Pacific to the Atlantic to be a myth. On the twenty-fourth of 
August they again landed to take j>ossession of the country, this time at Port Bucareli, 
named in honor of the viceroy under whose authority the expedition was dispatched, on 
the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. From this place they casually observed the 
coast at various points until they reached the Oregon coast in latitude 45 degrees and 
2 7 minutes, when they began a careful search for the great river Martin de Aguilar 
claimed to have discovered in 1603. Though they noticed currents of water setting out 
from the land in various places, nothing was observed indicating a stream of the magni- 
tude described by Aguilar, and they became satisfied that none such existed in that 
locality ; yet they observed a headland which was recognized as answering the descrip- 
tion of Cape Blanco, being, no doubt, the one called later Cape Orford by Captain 
Vancouver. On the third of October the Sonora entered a bay supposed to be that of 
San Francisco, but which proved to be a much smaller one a short distance north of 
that great harbor, and was therefore named Bodega bay by the discoverer in his 
honor. 



own 



By the voyages of Perez, Heceta and Bodega, and especially the latter, which was 
conducted under the most disadvantageous conditions, through stormy and unknown 
seas, in a small vessel which had lost its only boat, and with a crew afflicted with that 
terrible scourge of the early mariners, the scurvy, Spain justly laid claim to the first 
exploration of the Pacific coast from which even an approximately correct chart could 
be made; especially was this true of our immediate coast, for prior to these explorations 
the coast between Cape Mendocino and Mount San Jacinto, or Edgecumb, was so prac- 
tically unknown that in regard to it the most utterly erroneous ideas prevailed. 

Condensed reports of these voyages, containing the leading features, soon reached 
England, together with the accounts of the progress Spain was making in her scheme 
of colonizing California, and caused much anxiety to the government. With her 
Florida and Louisiana possessions extending indefinitely westward, with her California 
colonies already established and the possibility of her making additional settlements at 
some or all of the favorable localities on the northern coast where her representatives 
had already performed the ceremony of taking formal possession in the name of the 
king, the prospect of Spain soon obtaining control of the whole Pacific of America 
south of the 56th parallel, the limit to which Russian explorations formed a foundation 
for a claim by the czar, was imminent, With the zeal which England would exercise 
under the same circumstances, the claim of Spain would be perfected in ten years, and 
England be confined in North America to Canada and the possessions of her fur mo- 
nopoly around Hudson's bay. The prospect was far from pleasing, and nothing but 
the indolence of Spain saved England from entire exclusion from Pacific North Amer- 
ica. Yet for England to establish colonies in opposition to those of Spain was practically 
impossible. She had no Mexico to form a base of operation and supplies, but could 



PACIFIC COAST. 55 

hold communication with them only by means of a long and hazardous voyage of eight 
or ten months around Cape Horn or by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. 

Under this condition of affairs England looked upon the discovery of a northern 
passage from ocean to ocean as absolutely necessary to further her interests on the Pa- 
cific coast. It was this idea of the situation which led Parliament to renew the offered 
reward spoken of at the close of the last chapter, and which stimulated English ex- 
plorers into that great activity which resulted in revealing so much of our geography 
during the next fifteen years, laid the foundation for the claim to Oregon which Great 
Britain so strenuously asserted, and gave her title to the immense territory she now 
possesses on the Pacific coast. 

About this time Captain James Cook returned from his great voyage of explora- 
tion in the South sea and Indian ocean, having established the fact that no habitable 
land existed in the vicinity of the Antarctic circle and made a voyage so extensive and im- 
portant that he was universally recognized as the leading exj)lorer of the century. To 
him England turned in her hour of anxiety. Here was the man above all others to 
whom could be entrusted the search for that passage so vitally important to British 
interests in the Pacific, with the assurance that whatever skill, diligence and the most 
thorough acquaintance with the geographical knowledge and theories of the day could 
accomplish would certainly be achieved. This task Cook at once undertook, and sailed 
upon his new quest with high hopes of winning laurels greater than those which 
already encircled his brow. 

The instructions given to Cook by the Admiralty were very minute and particular. 
He was directed to proceed by way of the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand and 
Otaheite and endeavor to reach the coast of New Albion in the latitude 45 degrees. 
To the name New Albion the English government had tenaciously clung since the 
time Sir Francis Drake so christened the California coast and ceremoniously took 
possession in the name of the queen. To England there was much in a simple name, 
since her adherence to it showed her resolution to claim to the last all the benefit 
which could possibly be derived from the voyage of that adventurous marauder ; and 
this name was only changed for another when the basis upon which the English claim 
to Oregon rested was also altered. Though resolved to abate not one whit of her dis- 
covery rights, England was careful not to commit the least overt act of hostility against 
any rival claimants whatever. Serious trouble had commenced with her Atlantic 
colonies ; the battle of Bunker Hill had been fought and the evacuation of Boston 
compelled ; the whole coast from Massachusetts to Georgia was in a state of armed rebel- 
lion, encouraged by both France and Spain, who appeared upon the verge of offering 
substantial aid. The times were not propitious for England to assert her rights 
in the Pacific in a manner bordering in the least upon arrogance. Under the circum- 
stances an extremely modest demeanor was considered exceedingly becoming, and Cook 
was " strictly enjoined, on his way thither, not to touch upon any j3art of the Spanish 
dominions on the western continent of America, unless driven to it by some unavoid- 
able accident ; in which case he was to stay no longer than should be absolutely neces- 
sary, and to be very careful not to give any umbrage or offence to any of the inhabi- 
tants or subjects of his Catholic majesty. And if, in his farther progress northward, 
he should find any subjects of any European prince or state, upon any part of the 



56 PACIFIC COAST. 

coast which he might think proper to visit, he was not to disturb them or give them 
any just cause of offence, but, on the contrary, to treat them with civility and friend- 
ship." The last charge referred especially to the Russian settlements in the extreme 
north. 

But little positive knowledge was possessed in England of the geography of the 
coast north of Cape Mendocino. To be sure it was the reports of Spanish settlements 
in California and of several important voyages of exploration recently made by repre- 
sentatives of that nation, which had created such anxiety and infused such zeal into the 
English Admiralty ; but the particulars of those voyages were not yet received. All 
that was really known of the northwest coast was what could be learned from the 
records of Viscaino's voyage nearly two centuries before, from the indefinite and con- 
tradictory accounts of Russian discoveries in Alaskan waters, and the recent report by 
Samuel Hearne that the continent extended many miles westward from the Coppermine 
river. Between Viscaino's most northern limit, latitude 45 degrees, and the extreme 
southern point reached by Tchirikof in the 56th parallel, there was a vast stretch of 
coast line absolutely unknown. Cook was consequently instructed to proceed along the 
coast and, "with the consent of the natives, to take possession in the name of the King 
of Great Britain of convenient stations in such countries as he might discover that had 
not been already discovered or visited by any other European power, and to distribute 
among the inhabitants such things as will remain as traces of his having been there ; 
but, if he should find the countries so discovered to be uninhabited he was to take pos- 
session of them for his sovereign, by setting up proper marks and descriptions, as first 
discoverers and possessors." This was exactly what Heceta and Bodega had done for 
Spain the year before, though of this fact England was ignorant. Cook was directed to 
coast along to the 65th parallel, before reaching which he was expected to find it 
trending sharply towards then ortheast in the direction of the Coppermine river, the 
Admiralty being of the opinion that the great North sea visited by Hearne was 
identical with the Pacific. From that point he was to explore carefully " such rivers 
or inlets as might appear to be of considerable extent and pointing towards Hudson's 
or Baffin's bays," and endeavor to sail through all such passages, either in his vessels 
or in smaller ones to be constructed on the spot from materials taken with him for that 
especial purpose. In case he became satisfied from the configuration of the coast that 
no such passage existed and that the Pacific ocean and North sea were not identical, he 
was then to repair to the Russian settlements at Kamtchatka, and from that point ex- 
plore the seas to the northward " in further search of a northeast or northwest passage 
from the Pacific ocean into the Atlantic or the North sea." 

To carry out these minute and exhaustive instructions, Cook sailed from Plymouth 
July 12, 1776, in the Resolution, the vessel he had just taken around the world, ac- 
companied by Capt. Charles Clerke in the Discovery. The crews and officers were 
men selected carefully for this expedition, and the vessels were supplied with every 
nautical and scientific instrument which could in any possibility be needed, as well as 
the most accurate charts at the command of the government. After passing the Cape 
of Good Hope, Cook spent nearly a year making examinations about Van Dieman's 
Land, New Zealand, and the Friendly and Society islands. On the eighteenth of Jan- 
uary, 1778, he discovered the Hawaiian islands, that most important station in the 



PACIFIC COAST. 57 

Pacific, which he called Sandwich islands in honor of the first lord of the Admiralty 
under whose orders he was sailing. On the seventh of the following March he was 
delighted with a glimpse of the Oregon coast, or New Albion, near the 44th parallel, 
in the vicinity of the Umpqua. Contrary winds forced him as far south as the mouth 
of Rogue river, when, the wind becoming fair, he took a course almost due north and 
did not again see land until just above the 48th degree of latitude, when he descried a 
bold headland which he christened Cape Flattery to show his appreciation of the flatter- 
ing condition of his prospects. 

It was now that Cook fell into the same error which had so sorely baffled and 
defeated Heceta and Bodega two years before. Like them, having reached the very 
southern edge of the Straits of Fuca, he turned away and searched for them to the south- 
ward, because in Lock's narrative they had been located between latitudes 47 and 48 
degrees. Finding the coast line unbroken, Cook pronounced the passage a myth, and 
abandoning the search sailed northward, passing heedlessly by the straits for which he 
had been so diligently looking. He soon dropped anchor in a safe and sj^acious harbor 
in latitude 49? degrees, which he called King George's sound, but later substituted 
Nootka when he learned that such was its Indian title. This was, beyond doubt, the 
Port Lorenzo entered by Perez in 1774, and like the Spaniard, Cook reports the 
natives to be of a very light complexion and to possess ornaments of copper and 
weajjons of iron and brass. This, united with the fact that one of them had suspended 
about his greasy neck two silver spoons of Spanish manufacture, and because they 
manifested no surjnise and but little curiosity about the ships, and seemed not to be 
frightened at the report of guns, and were eager to barter furs for a valuable considera- 
tion, esjjecially metals of all kinds, led Cook to the opinion that they had held inter- 
course with civilized nations in former times. Their supposed familiarity with 
firearms was soon found to be erroneous, for " one day, upon endeavoring to prove to 
us that arrows and spears would not penetrate their war-dresses, a gentleman of our 
company shot a musket-ball through one of them folded six times. At this they were 
so much staggered, that their ignorance of fire-arms was plainly seen. This was after- 
wards confirmed when we used them to shoot birds, the manner of which confounded 
them." This discovery and other facts elicited by a closer observation caused Cook to 
change his opinion about their previous intercourse with white people. In speculating 
on this subject he says that though " some account of a Spanish voyage to this coast 
in 1774 or 1775 had reached England before I sailed, it was evident that iron was too 
common here, was in too many hands, and the use of it too well known, for them to 
have had the first knowledge of it so very lately, or, indeed, at any earlier period, by 
an accidental supj)ly from a ship. Doubtless, from the general use they make of this 
metal, it might be supposed to come from some constant source, by way of traffic, and 
that not of a very late date ; for they are as dexterous in using their tools as the 
longest practice can make them. The most probable way, therefore, by which we can 
suppose that they get their iron, is by trading for it with other Indian tribes, who 
either have immediate communication with European settlements upon the continent, 
or receive it, perhaps, through several intermediate nations ; the same might be said of 
the brass and copper found amongst them." The indifference of the natives to the 
ships, in regard to which their lack of curiosity was noticeable and had been one of 



58 PACIFIC COAST. 

the causes which at first led him to suppose they were familiar with such objects, he 
attributed "to their natural indolence of temper and want of curiosity." Cook's 
ignorance of the vast extent of the American continent and the degree of civi- 
lization attained by the various aboriginal nations occupying it, must be his excuse 
for supposing that such a commodity as iron could have been transported from the 
Atlantic'coast to the Pacific, passing from hand to hand through numerous tribes of 
Indians, many of them engaged in unceasing and unrelenting warfare. That such 
could not have been the case, even aside from these objections, we are well assured by 
the fact that the inland tribes through whose hands the metal must have passed knew 
nothing of iron or its uses, and employed flint and bones for knives, spear-heads and 
arrow-tips. In the region then visited by the English for the first time exist vast 
quantities of iron ore, and in the mountains of the mainland copper ledges abound, 
and though no traces have as yet been observed of the ancient working of these mines, 
it is more than probable that the iron and copper possessed by the natives of Vancouver 
island, who were the most civilized and intelligent found on the Pacific coast, were 
produced from the crude ore by their possessors themselves. This supposition is sivp- 
ported by the fact that the natives forged iron in an ingenious manner, making harpoons, 
weapons and ornaments, thus showing how well they understood the nature of the 
substance and demonstrating their ability to produce it from the native ore. The com- 
paratively limited amount in their possession indicated that they only utilized surface 
croppings, and this fully explains the absence of any signs of former mining opera- 
tions on the ledges. When Captain Meares visited the same locality a few years later, 
he was equally astonished at their familiarity with these metals. He tells us that the 
Indians manufactured tools of the iron obtained from him in trading ; and that it was 
seldom they could be prevailed upon to use European tools or utensils in preference to 
their own, with the exception of the saw, the utility and labor-saving value of which 
they at once recognized. They made a tool for the purpose of hollowing out large 
trees, which answered the purpose better than any instrument possessed by the ship's 
carpenter. For an anvil they employed a flat stone and a round one did duty as a 
sledge ; and with these implements they fashioned the red hot iron at will, attaching 
to the tools or weapons when desired a wooden handle, fastened securely with cords of 
sinew. What little brass they possessed may have been procured from the Spanish 
vessels which had visited them a few years before. In this connection the legend re- 
lated to Meares, explaining the origin of their knowledge of copper, will be interesting. 
The fact that there existed a legend on the subject is sufficient evidence of the length 
of time the use of copper had been familiar to them. Meares says : " On expressing 
our wish to be informed by what means they became acquainted with copper, and why 
it was such a peculiar object of their admiration, a son of Hannapa, one of the Noot- 
kan chiefs, a youth of uncommon sagacity, informed us of all he knew on the subject, 
and we found, to our surprise, that his story involved a little sketch of their religion. 
He first placed a certain number of sticks upon the ground, at small distances from 
each other, to which he gave separate names. Thus, he called the first his father, the 
next his grandfather ; he then took what remained and threw them all into confusion 
together, as much as to say that they were the general heap of his ancestors, whom he 
could not individually reckon. He then, pointing to this bundle, said, when they 



PACIFIC COAST. 59 

lived an old man entered the sound in a copper canoe, with copper paddles, and every- 
thing else in his possession of the same metal ; that he paddled along the shore, on 
which all the people were assembled to contemplate so strange a sight, and that, hav- 
ing thrown one of his copper paddles on shore, he himself landed. The extraordinary 
stranger then told the natives that he came from the sky, to which the boy pointed 
with his hand ; that their country would one day be destroyed, when they would all 
be killed, and rise again to live in the place from whence he came. Our young inter- 
preter explained this circumstance of his narrative by lying down as if he were dead, 
and then, rising up suddenly, he imitated the action as if he were soaring through the 
air. He continued to inform us that the people killed the old man and took his canoe, 
from which event they derived their fondness for copper, and he added that the images 
in their houses were intended to represent the form, and perpetuate the_ mission, of 
this supernatural person who came from the sky." 

Cook's vessels lay in Noolka sound nearly a month, repairing the casualties of 
the long voyage, laying in a supply of wood and water, and permitting the seamen to 
recruit their inrpaired health. They were constantly surrounded by a fleet of canoes, 
whose occupants came from many miles along the coast for the purpose of trading with 
the strangers. They had for barter " skins of various animals, such as wolves, foxes, 
bears, deer, raccoons, polecats, martins, and, in particular, of the sea-otters, which are 
found at the islands east of Kamtchatka ;" and, he might have added, in great num- 
bers about the Straits of Fuca. " Besides the skins in their native shape, they also 
brought garments made of the bark of a tree or some plant like hemp ; weapons, such 
as bows and arrows, and spears ; fish-hooks and instruments of various kinds ; wooden 
visors of many monstrous figures ; a sort of woolen stuff or blanketing ; bags filled 
with red ochre ; pieces of carved rock ; beads and several other little ornaments of 
thin brass and iron, shaped like a horseshoe, which they hung at their noses ; and several 
chisels, or pieces of iron fixed to handles. :|: * Their eagerness to possess iron and 
brass, and, indeed, any kind of metal, was so great that few of them could resist the 
temptation to steal it whenever an opportunity offered." 

About the last of April Cook sailed out of Nootka sound and resumed his explor- 
ations northward. His next object was to look for the Rio de los Reyes of Admiral 
Fonte, but a violent wind drove him to sea and prevented him from viewing the coast 
about the 53d parallel. " For my own part," he says, " I gave no credit to such vague 
and improbable stories, that convey their own confutation along with them ; neverthe- 
less, I was very desirous of keeping the American coast aboard, in order to clear up 
this point beyond dispute." He next saw land near the 55th parallel on the first of 
May, and soon after passed the beautiful mountain called San Jacinto by Bodega, but 
upon which he bestowed the title Mount Edgecumb ; and a little later he observed and 
named Mount Fairweather, on the mainland. Cook had now entered the region ex- 
plored by the Russians, with whose voyages he was somewhat familiar, and consequently 
it was no surprise to him, but an expected gratification, when his eyes rested upon a 
giant, snow-mantled peak which he at once recognized as the Mount St. Elias described 
by Behring. This icy monarch is upwards of 17,000 feet in altitude, the highest and 
grandest peak of the North American continent 



GO PACIFIC COAST. 

Mount St. Elias was seen on the fourth of May, 1778 ; and from its base the shore 
line was seen to trend sharply to the west ; which fact induced Cook to begin at that 
point his search for the Straits of Anian, hoping soon to find a passage which would 
lead him eastward into Hudson's bay or Baffin's bay, or northward into the great 
North sea spoken of by Maldonado and seen by Hearne. Russian maps of this 
region, copies of which he possessed, showed the whole space between Kamtchatka and 
Mount St. Elias to be an ocean thickly strewn with islands, the largest of which was 
called Aliaska, so that he had good authority for his belief in a passage into the North 
sea. He sailed westward, and then southwestward to the latitude 54? degrees, minutely 
examining all the bays, inlets and islands encountered, especially Prince William's 
sound and Cook's inlet, the latter of which he j^robabiy conceived to be the entrance 
to a river since he named it Cook's river. Nowhere could he observe an opening 
through the white chain of mountains, and he became satisfied that the American 
continent " extended much further to the west than, from the modern most reputable 
charts, he had reason to expect," and that the Russians were erroneous in their idea 
that the reo-ion west and northwest of Mount St. Elias was but a sea of islands. The 
result was that he abandoned the hope of finding a passage into either Hudson's or 
Baffin's bay, and resolved to see how far west the continent extended and to sail into 
the North sea through the passage discovered by Bearing just fifty years before. He 
therefore sailed southwesterly, and on the nineteenth of June fell in with a number of 
islands which he recognized as the Schumagim group, and where he saw the first evi- 
dences of the presence of Russians at any time in those waters, in the form of a piece 
of paper in the possession of the natives, upon which was written something in a for- 
eign language which he supposed to be Russian. He soon after passed the extremity 
of the Alaskan peninsula and the islands which seemed an extension of it, and 
doubling this turned again eastward, soon reaching the large island of Ounalaska, 
which Russian accounts had frequently mentioned as an important station in their 
fur trade. 

At Ounalaska Cook remained five days, and on the second of July sailed north- 
ward along the coast, searching faithfully for a passage eastward. On the ninth of 
August he reached a point which he correctly believed to be the utmost extremity of 
the continent, and upon it he bestowed the name of Cape Prince of Wales. The va- 
rious names and titles of that worthy prince appear to have been as liberally scattered 
about by the loyal English explorers as were the saints of the Roman calendar by the 
devout subjects of Spain. Cook crossed Behring's strait from this point, finding it 
but fifty miles in width, and landed upon the coast of Asia. He explored the Asiatic 
coast of the Arctic ocean northwestward to Cape North in latitude 68 degrees and 56 
minutes, and the American coast northeastward as far as Icy Cape, in latitude 70 de- 
grees and 29 minutes, and being prevented by ice from progressing further returned 
to Ounalaska, where he fell in with some Russian traders, who soon convinced him 
that they knew far less of the geography of the North Pacific than he did. He then 
proceeded to the Sandwich islands to spend the winter, and was slain in an unfortunate 
affray with the natives on the island of Hawaii on the sixteenth of February, 1779. 

The death of this renowned explorer, though a sad blow to the enterprise, did not 
terminate it altogether; yet the results accomplished thereafter were by no means as 



/ 



PACIFIC COAST. 61 

great as they would have been had operations been directed by the great executive 
ability and geographical knowledge possessed by Cook. Captain Charles Clerke suc- 
ceeded to the command, and in March, 1779, sailed from the Sandwich islands, with 
the purpose of passing into the Arctic sea and thence, if possible, into the Atlantic. 
He headed northward and on the twenty-ninth of April entered the harbor of Petro- 
paulovski in the Bay of Avatscha, the chief military station of Russia in Kamtchatka, 
where he was received with great courtesy by the officials of the czar. Clerke then 
sailed into Behring's strait, but was prevented from advancing even as far as the year 
before by the vast quantities of ice, having arrived too early in the season. Being in 
ill health and discouraged by his want of success, Captain Clerke returned to Petro- 
paulovski, and died near that port on the twenty-second of August. Lieutenant John 
Gore succeeded to the command, but deeming the vessels in too battered a condition 
to endure another season in that rigorous climate, he sailed at once for his native land 
by the way of Canton, where he had learned, through the Russians, would be found a 
good market for the furs he had on board. 

The vessels arrived in Canton early in December, bearing the first cargo of furs 
taken from America proper to China, and with the exception of the cargo taken there 
by Benyowsky and the Polish refugees in 1770, the first to be conveyed into the Celestial 
Kingdom by sea. This was a very important circumstance, since it was one of the 
greatest factors that led to the development of the American coast north of California, 
The furs had been purchased from the natives at Nootka sound, Prince William's 
sound and other points visited, the seamen exchanging for them the merest trifles in 
their possession. Xo care was taken to buy only valuable kinds since they Avere not 
jmrchased upon speculation ; nor was any thought takeii of their preservation, many 
of them being ruined as an article of merchandise by being used for beds and cloth- 
ing. It was only when they reached Petropaulovski and saw how eager the Russians 
were to purchase them and ship them overland to China that the officers realized 
how valuable a cargo they possessed. They pursuaded the seamen to cling to their 
furs until they arrived in Canton, where they assured them much better prices would 
be realized. The outcome was that what was aboard the two vessels was sold for more 
than $10,000, and the result so excited the cupidity of the crew, that, though their 
voyage had already been extended over a space of three years and a half, they became 
" possessed with a rage to return to the northern coasts, and, by another cargo of skins, 
to make their fortunes, which was, at one time, not far short of mutiny." The insub- 
ordinate tendencies of the crew were repressed, and the Resolution and Discovery 
sailed homeward from Canton, passed around the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived in 
England early in October, 1880, having been absent four years and three months, 
during which time no tidings of them had been received at home, and having lost 
their gallant commander in battle and his able associate by the hand of disease. 

England was at that time engaged in war with both Spain and France, while the 
patriotic struggle of her American colonies for independence was causing her to put 
forth her utmost energy to uphold her authority in regions already under her domin- 
ion ; she had neither time nor means to attempt anything more in foreign countries 
until her present troubles were overcome, consequently the lords of admiralty withheld 
from publication the official record of the voyage until after the conclusion of peace, 



/ 



62 PACIFIC COAST. 

and it was not made public until during the winter of 1884-5. By comparison of 
voyages it will be seen that Cook saw no portion of America not j>reviously visited by 
the Spaniards, who had formally taken possession, or by Russian explorers ; but his 
explorations had been so careful, his observations so thorough and his records so 
accurately kept, that he revolutionized the ideas of Pacific geography. 

There remains yet to be recorded a voyage made by the Spaniards contempora- 
neously with that of Cook, though each was conducted in ignorance of the other. The 
discoveries of Heceta and Bodega were considered highly important by the authorities 
of Spain, and they ordered another expedition to be fitted out to make a more thorough 
examination of the coast, which was not ready for sea for three years. The Princesa 
and Favorita, the former under the command of Captain Ignacio Arteaga, leader of 
the expedition, and the latter commanded by Bodega and Maurelle, sailed from San 
Bias February 7, 1779, only nine days prior to the death of Cook on the island of 
Hawaii. They visited only such places as had been seen before by Heceta and Bodega, 
following closely the course pursued the previous year by Captain Cook. Mount St. 
Elias having been reached and the coast line being observed to run steadily to the west, 
they were lead, as had been Cook, to look carefully for the Straits of Anian, but, like 
him, were disappointed. Arteaga was not gifted with the qualities that make a suc- 
cessful pioneer, and becoming discouraged at his want of success and by the symptoms 
of scurvy observed among the crew, he ordered both vessels to return to San Bias, 
where they arrived late in November. The observations, records and charts made 
during this voyage were very inaccurate and of but little value, and the expedition 
was productive of no benefit to Spain, nor did it reflect any glory upon the nation ; 
yet the officers were rewarded by promotion for their good conduct. Spain had, in the 
meantime, become involved in war with England and was neither in the condition nor 
mood to pursue further investigations north of her settlements in California until 
peace was restored. 



CHAPTER IX. 



BEGINNING OF THE FUR TRADE ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 

Cook's Return to England Produces great Results — Russian American Trading Company — Undertaking of John 
Ledyard — Voyage of the French Explorer LaPerouse — The East India, South Sea, and King George's Sound 
Companies — Meares Spends a Horrible Winter in the Arctic Regions — Berkeley Discovers the Straits of Fuca 
— Second Voyage of Captain Meares — He Explores the Straits of Fuca and Attempts to Enter the Columbia. 

The lords of admiralty could pigeon-hole the log books of the Resolution and 
Discovery, but they could not so easily seal the lips of their excited crews, whose tales 
of the lands visited, wonderful objects and strange races of people seen, and, above all, of 
the ease with which fortunes could be made, by buying furs on the American coast for 
a song and trading them in China for valuable cargoes of silks, porcelain and tea, 
aroused a universal interest in the Pacific, which only the existing state of hostilities in 
Europe and America was potent to hold in check. The Russians, also, had learned 
much through the contact of their traders with the English explorers, both on the 
island of Ounalaska and at the port of Petropaulovski ; and, being unhampered by 
wars, were the first to take advantage of the discoveries of Cook and reap from them 
substantial results. An association called the Russian American Trading Company 
was organized in 1781, and in 1783 an expedition of three vessels was sent to the 
American coast to examine it and plant colonies on the islands and continent as far 
east as Prince William's sound. The expedition was absent three years and success- 
fully accomplished its mission. These settlements and the power of the Russian Amer- 
ican Trading Company were gradually extended until through them Russia obtained 
complete control of the Alaskan coast as far south as latitude 54 degrees and 40 
minutes, and exerted great influence in the Pacific, even establishing in later years a 
settlement in California, which will be referred to again in these pages. 

Several unsuccessful efforts were made to open up a trade between the American 
coast and China, especially by John Ledyard, an American seaman who had been one 
of the crew of Cook's vessel. He sought both in America and France to interest capi- 
talists, but was. unsuccessful in his efforts to secure backing in his enterprise. He then 
undertook to cross Russia and Siberia to Kamtchatka, sail thence to Nootka sound, and 
then traverse the American continent to the Atlantic. In furtherance of this scheme 
he secured a passport from the empress of Russia, and had advanced as far as Irkutsk, 
when he was arrested, conducted to the Polish frontier of Russia, and released with the 
injunction not to again enter the empire. This action was probably instigated by the 
Russian American Trading Company, which did not relish the idea of a foreigner be- 
coming so familiar with a region which it proj^osed to monopolize for its own benefit. 

King Louis XVI., of France, dispatched an expedition under the command of a 
most competent and scientific navigator named LaPerouse, in 1785, immediately after 



64 PACIFIC COAST. 

the publication of Cook's journal had verified the tales of his seamen and infused into 
the commercial world a spirit of adventure in the Pacific. LaPerouse was instructed 
to "explore the parts of the northwest coasts of America which had not been examined 
by Cook, and of which the Russian accounts gave no idea, in order to obtain informa- 
tion respecting the fur trade, and also to learn whether, in those unknown parts, some 
river or internal sea might not be found communicating with Hudson's bay or Baffin's 
bay." LaPerouse reached the coast in the vicinity of Mount Fairweather June 23, 
1786, where he remained at anchor several weeks, and then sailed southward, examin- 
ing the coast and discovering that many points formerly considered portions of the 
mainland were, in reality, but parts of islands. Though the first to ascertain this fact 
he received no credit for it, since his vessels were wrecked in the New Hebrides and his 
journal was not published until 1797, several years after other explorers had discovered 
and made known the same facts. 

England's anxiety to further her interests in the Pacific led her to adopt a policy 
which, so far as the American coast was concerned, had the effect of hampering her 
efforts to secure a foothold on the coast. Notwithstanding the fact that the Hudson's Bay 
Company had been instrumental in checking the general progress of the nation on the 
Atlantic coast, and had headed off or rendered futile all explorations of its territory, 
Great Britain seems not to have learned a lesson from experience and was ready to 
repeat the experiment. To the great East India Company she had granted chartered 
rights which have been so well improved that a vast territory, an enormous commerce, 
millions of subjects, in fact a new empire, have been added to the British crown, and 
the queen of England now subscribes herself empress of the Indies. To this com- 
pany was granted the privilege of trading with the Asiatic coast and adjacent islands 
of the Pacific to the complete exclusion of all other British subjects whatever. To a 
new association called the South Sea Company a like exclusive privilege of all the 
commerce of the American coast of the Pacific was given. Thus all independent 
English traders were shut out from the Pacific entirely, and Great Britain was com- 
pelled to rely upon these two companies for the advancement of her interests in this 
quarter of the globe ; since no vessels but those of the East India Company could 
carry the English flag around the Cape of Good Hope and none but those of its rival 
could enter the Pacific by the way of Cape Horn. But it was soon found that the 
interests of these two companies were antagonistic and their granted privileges con- 
flicting, when applied to the practical demands of trade. The South Sea Company 
could load. its ships with furs at Nootka and Prince William's sound, but it could not 
dispose of them in China ; on the other hand its powerful rival which controlled the 
Chinese market was debarred from sending its vessels to trade for furs on the American 
coast. 

The first successful voyage was that of James Hanna, an Englishman, who sailed 
from Macao in 1785, and procured a cargo of furs at Nootka sound, which he sold in 
China for $20,000. He repeated the trip the following year, but encountered so much 
opposition from other traders who were then on the coast, and found so poor a market 
in China, which had been glutted with furs, that nothing was realized from the specu- 
lation. In 1785 the King George's Sound Company was organized in^England and 
procured special permits from the South Sea Company and the East India Company, 



1!! 



:. 







I 
i 



PACIFIC COAST. 65 

which enabled it to trade in the Pacific waters. The King George and Queen Charlotte 
were dispatched to the American coast under the command of Captains Portlock and 
Dixon, and traded two years without paying expenses because of the competition and 
overstocked market. Two other vessels were sent by the company, which arrived in 
1787 just before Portlock and Dixon took their departure; but the new discoveries 
made by all these traders w r ere confined to ascertaining that the coast above the 49th 
parallel was fringed by hundreds of large and small islands, and that it was only these 
islands which had been visited by the earlier explorers. 

This led to the idea that the whole northwestern continent was in fact but an 
immense archipelago of islands, through which it would be possible to reach the 
Atlantic. This was the opinion formed by Captain Meares in 1789, who assigned as 
one of his reasons for holding that belief, that " the channels of this archipelago were 
found to be wide and capacious, with near two hundred fathoms deep of water, and 
huge promontories stretching out into the sea, where whales and sea-otters were seen 
in incredible abundance. In some of these channels there are islands of ice, which 
we may venture to say could never have formed on the western side of America, which 
possesses a mild and moderate climate ; so that their existence cannot be reconciled to 
any other idea, than that they received their formation in the eastern seas, and have 
been drifted by the tides and currents through the passage for whose existence we are 
contending." The intelligent mariner seems to have forgotten the ice encountered by 
Cook in Behring's strait and the terrible winter he himself spent on the Alaskan coast. 

Captain Meares was a lieutenant of the British navy, off duty and on half pay. 
In 1787 the great East India Company fitted out tw T o vessels to trade between Nootka 
sound and China, assigning the Nootha to the command of Meares and the Sea-Otter 
to Lieutenant Walter Tipping. This was the second venture of the company in this 
direction, as two small vessels had been dispatched the year before, which had enjoyed 
a reasonable measure of success. 

The Sea- Otter is known to have reached Prince William's sound, but her voyage 
from that port is hidden in mystery while her ultimate fate is unknown. It is prob- 
able that she and her crew went to the bottom of the sea, for if wrecked upon the 
coast and her crew murdered by the natives, it would seem almost impossible that no 
trace of them should ever have been discovered. The Nootka, also, followed the course 
of the Japan current, crossed the Aleutian group between Ounamak and Ounalaska 
islands, and finally came to anchor in Prince William's sound, with the purpose of 
spending the winter there and resuming the voyage in the spring. During October, 
November and December their stay in the sound was quite endurable, but the horrors 
of an Arctic winter, with which English seamen were entirely unfamiliar, then began 
to crowd upon them. Ice hemmed in the vessel, snow covered it in drifts, all fowl and 
animal life deserted the sound, including the migratory natives who had been living 
there when they arrived. The sickly sun peeped over the horizon's rim but a few 
moments at noon, and then the almost perpetually-falling snow obscured it from view, 
" tremendous mountains forbade almost a sight of the sky, and cast their nocturnal 
shadows over the ship in the midst of day," scurvy, that horrible scourge of the sea, 
began its ravages among the crew, and horrors were " heaped on horror's head." From 
January to May twenty-three of the men died and the remainder were rendered unfit 



GG PACIFIC COAST. 

to perform any labor whatever. In May the birds and animals returned, the ice dis- 
appeared, the natives once more greeted their stricken visitors, the vessel was released 
from its icy chains, and in June Meares sailed to the Sandwich islands and from there 
to China, having achieved but the honor of being the first English navigator to 
spend the winter on the Alaskan coast. The East India Company were satis- 
fied with these two disastrous voyages, but not so Captain Meares, who began making 
preparations for another visit to the American coast. 

The entrance to the Straits of Fuca were seen for the first time since they were 
entered by the old Greek pilot by Captain Berkeley, an Englishman, though in com- 
mand of a ship belonging to the Austrian East India Company. In sailing south 
from the coast of Vancouver island in his vessel the Imperial Eagle, Captain Berkeley 
noticed a broad opening between latitudes 48 and 49 degrees and just north of Cape 
Flattery, south of which Cook, Bodega and Heceta had made such careful search for 
the reputed passage. Noting the discovery upon his chart but making no effort to 
explore the opening, Berkeley continued south along the coast and at the Isla de los 
Dolores lost a boat's crew at the hands of Indians almost at the same spot where Bo- 
dega's men had been murdered ; and for this reason he called the unfortunate place 
Destruction island. 

The next voyage of importance was that of the second visit to our coast by Cap- 
tain Meares. In China the Portuguese were given special privileges and exemptions, 
and in order to reap the advantage of this two vessels were fitted out at the Portuguese 
port of Macao, near Canton, having nominal captains of that nation and receiving 
permission from the governor to carry the Portuguese flag. Their actual commanders 
were Captain Meares of the ship Felice, and William Douglas of the brig Iphigenia, 
though those gentlemen appear upon the papers simply in the capacity of supercar- 
goes. Nor was this alone the object of the use of Portugal's flag, since by so doing 
the act of Parliament excluding all British vessels from the Pacific except those of the 
East India and South Sea companies could be evaded. Greenhow endeavors to prove 
that these two vessels were actually the property of Juan Cavallo, the Portuguese 
whose name appears as owner in the ship's papers, and that the Portuguese captains 
were the bona fide commanders of the vessels; and he so far succeeds in his effort as 
to raise a strong presumption that, if such was not the case, these Portuguese were at 
least something more than mere figureheads in the enterprise. The plan of the voy- 
age was for the Felice to go to Nootka sound and coast up and down from that harbor 
exploring the coast and trading with the natives ; the Iphigenia was to proceed at once 
to Cook's inlet and trade southward to Nootka, where one of the vessels was to load 
all the furs and return to Macao, the other to remain there or at the Sandwich islands 
until spring. 

In pursuance of this plan of operations the Felice sailed for Nootka sound in the 
winter of 1787-8, and immediately upon her arrival the construction of a small 
schooner was begun by her crew, to be used for trading along the coast. While this 
work was progressing Meares made a short voyage southward ; but before going he 
secured from Maquinna, the chief, the privilege of erecting a house for the abode and 
protection of the working party left behind. The consideration for this favor was a 
brace of pistols and the free gift of the house and its contents when he took his final 



PACIFIC COAST. 67 

departure. This shows conclusively that the house was only for temporary occupancy, 
yet Meares, afterwards, in view of subsequent events, laid claim to having made a 
permanent settlement in the name of the king of England ; though how he could have 
done so while acting, even nominally, in the capacity of supercargo of a Portuguese 
vessel, he fails to explain. 

Having built his house, and surrounded it with a rampart of earth surmounted 
with a small cannon for the protection of its inmates, Meares sailed south along the 
coast in search of the passage which had been discovered the previous year by Berkeley. 
On the twenty-ninth of June, 1788, in latitude 48 degrees and 39 minutes, he observed 
a broad inlet, and in his narrative lays claim to its first discovery, by claiming that 
" the fact of the coast along which we were now sailing had not been seen by Captain 
Cook, and we know no other navigator, said to have been this way, except Maurelle," 
though in the introduction to the narrative he mentions the fact of Berkeley's discovery 
the year before. He says: " From the masthead, it was observed to stretch to the 
east by the north, and a clear and unbounded horizon was seen in this direction as far 
as the eye could reach. The strongest curiosity impelled us to enter this strait, which 
we shall call by the name of its original discoverer, John de Fuca." Duffin, mate of 
the Felice, was sent up the strait with a boat's crew of thirteen men and provisions for 
a month. They returned in a week, every one of them suffering from wounds received 
in a conflict with the natives. The boat had proceeded only ten miles up the strait, 
[Meares claimed thirty, but Duffin's statement places it at ten], and had been attacked 
with great ferocity and bravery by the savages who seemed not to care for the destruc- 
tion caused by the fire arms nor to be frightened by the noise they made. They used 
their bows and arrows, clubs, stone bludgeons, spears and slings with great skill and 
effect, so much so that had it not been for the protection afforded by the awning of the 
boat few of the crew would have escaped with their lives. 

Meares then sailed south in search of the Rio de San Roque of Heceta. On the 
fifth of July he observed a headland which he called Cape Shoalwater and on ap- 
proaching nearer the coast the next day saw beyond this a promontory which he con- 
ceived to be one side of Heceta's inlet. He says: " After we had rounded the prom- 
ontory a large bay, as we had imagined, opened to our view, that bore a very promising- 
appearance, and into it we steered with every encouraging expectation. The high land 
that formed the boundaries of the bay was at a great distance, and a flat, level country 
occupied the intervening space ; the bay itself took rather a westerly direction. As 
we steered in the water shoaled to nine, eight and seven fathoms, when breakers were 
seen from the deck right ahead, and, from the masthead, they were observed to extend 
across the bay ; we therefore hauled out, and directed our course to the opposite shore, 
to see if there was any channel or if we could discover any point. The name of Cape 
Disappointment was given to the promontory (Cape Hancock), and the bay obtained 
the title of Deception bay. * * * * We can now with safety assert that there is 
no such river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts. To those 
of Maurelle [ Bodega's pilot ] we made continual reference, but without deriving any 
information or assistance from them. \Ve now reached the opposite side of the bay, 
where disappointment continued to accompany us , and, being almost certain that there 
we should obtain no place of shelter for the ship, we bore for a distant headland, keep- 



68 PACIFIC COAST. 

ing our course within two miles of the shore." The distant headland he named Cape 
Lookout, it being the one called Cape Falcon by the Spaniards and now known as 
Tillamook head. 

Having now " traced every part of the coast which unfavorable weather had pre- 
vented Captain Cook from approaching," Meares returned to Nootka sound, where he 
was soon joined by the Iphigenia, which had been very successful in its traffic with 
the northern natives. The little schooner was then launched, the first vessel con- 
structed on the Northern Pacific coast, and the very appropriate title of Northwest 
America was bestowed upon her. Leaving orders for the schooner and the Iphigenia 
to winter at Hawaii, Meares sailed in the Felice for China, taking with him all the 
accumulated furs. 

Before Meares quitted Nootka sound, two American vessels entered it, bearing the 
happily-chosen names of Columbia and Washington, the former being a ship an dthe 
latter a sloop. The commerce of the colonies had been entirely destroyed during the 
long struggle for independence, but immediately after the treaty of Ghent the citizens 
of the new republic began to make their presence felt in every commercial mart. The 
seal and whale fishing around Cape Horn was resumed, and as early as 1784 an 
American vessel entered the harbor of Canton, while in 1787 no less than five were 
engaged in the trade with China. Being unencumbered with restrictions such as Eng- 
land had imposed upon all British vessels except those of her chartered monopolies, 
they could embark in the fur trade with every prospect of success, and it was as a ven- 
ture in this direction that the Columbia and Washington were fitted out in Boston and 
dispatched to the Pacific, with an ample supply of such goods and trinkets as were the 
most highly prized by the Indians. John Kendrick was the commander of the Col- 
umbia and leader of the expedition, while the Washington was under the command of 
Robert Gray. 

Soon after entering the Pacific around Cape Horn, in January, 1788, the two vessels 
were separated by a severe gale and were not again united until the following October 
in Nootka sound. The Washington kept her course northward, and in August reached 
the Oregon coast near the" 46th parallel, where she ran aground while attempting to 
enter an opening in the land which was probably the mouth of the Columbia. After 
repelling an attack of the natives, during which the mate was wounded and one of the 
men killed, the Washington succeeded in again floating into deep water. She then 
went directly to Nootka sound, where were found the Felice, Iphigenia and Northwest 
America, her appearance there being an unexpected surprise to Captain Meares and 
his associates. A few days later the Columbia also entered the sound to join her con- 
sort, having been compelled after the storm near Cape Horn to enter the harbor of 
the Island of Juan Fernandez for repairs, where Captain Kendrick had been most 
courteously treated by the commandant of the Spanish forces stationed there. Meares 
soon sailed to China in the Felice, and the Iphigenia and Northwest America pro- 
ceeded to the Sandwich islands to spend the winter, the two American vessels lying at 
anchor in Nootka sound until the following spring. 



*b 




l/lT/j rLMV^oll^ 



CHAPTER X. 

CONFLICT OF AUTHORITY AT NOOTKA SOUND. 

Anxiety of Spain lest her Claims in the Pacific be Overthrown — Voyage of Martinez and Haro— Alarming- En- 
croachments of the Russians — Spain Dispatches Martinez and Haro to Nootka Sound to Take Possession 
— New Venture of Captain Meares — High-Handed Conduct of Martinez at Nootka — Captains Colnett and 
Hodson Sent to San Bias as Prisoners — Gray Explores the Straits of Fuca— Release of Colnett— Diplo- 
matic Controversy Between England and Spain. 

The uneasiness felt by England in 1776 when reports reached the kingdom that 
Spain was diligently exploring and colonizing the Pacific coast of America, was now 
experienced in even a greater degree by Spain herself, who saw vessels of foreign 
nations, and especially those of her dreaded rival, entering the Pacific from both the 
east and the west. She had not receded in the least degree from the extreme position 
taken by her in the sixteenth century, and not only claimed dominion over all the 
Pacific coast of America, but a complete monopoly of its trade to the exclusion of the 
vessels of all other nations whatever. 

In pursuance of this policy Don Bias Gonzales, the commandant at Juan Fer- 
nandez, was recalled and cashiered by the captain general of Chili for his hospitable 
treatment of Captain Kendrick, and this action was endorsed by the viceroy of Peru. 
The delinquent officer was informed that he should have enforced the royal ordinance 
of 1692, which decreed that all foreign vessels of any nation, no matter on how friendly 
terms they might be with Spain, should be seized whenever found in Pacific waters, 
unless they could exhibit a license from the Spanish court. The authorities in all ports 
were then specially instructed to seize all foreign vessels, since no nation had a right 
to any territory in America which made a passage of Cape Horn necessary in 
order to reach it ; and the Spanish viceroy even went so far as to dispatch a cruiser 
from Callao in search of the Columbia, with instructions to capture her if ijossible. 

The Spanish authorities now realized that something must be done to establish 
settlements north of California, their utmost limit at that time being the mission at 
San Francisco. Beyond that, though claiming exclusive authority and dominion, they 
actually knew less of the geography of the coast than either the English or Russians. 
An expedition was accordingly fitted out in Mexico in 1788, to be sent on a voyage of 
inquiry, for the double purpose of learning the extent of Russian settlements in the 
north, and selecting suitable locations for a number of proposed Spanish colonies. 
The fleet consisted of the Princesa, commanded by Estivan Martinez, former pilot of 
Juan Perez, and the San Carlos under command of Lieutenant Gonzalo Haro. 

The two consorts sailed from San Bias March 8, 1788, and reached Prince Wil- 
liam's sound on the twenty-fifth of May, where they lay nearly a month without 
making any attempt at exploration. There Avas a marked and radical difference 



70 PACIFIC COAST. 

between the English and Spanish methods of conducting operations of this character ; 
for while the latter seemed, either from lack of energy or want of the true spirit of 
the explorer, to be satisfied with an occasional visit to the coast here and there, making 
a few almost valueless notes of what they saw, the English, on the contrary, seemed 
imbued with enthusiasm, exploring the shore carefully, taking continual observations, 
noting every peculiarity, and keeping a record of much geographical and scientific 
value. One of these careful English voyages was worth to the world a dozen such 
skimmings as the Spaniards indulged in. 

About the end of June Haro sailed southwest with the San Carlos and fell in 
with the Island of Kodiak, upon which was a Russian trading post. From the offi- 
cial in charge, a Greek named Delaref, he received minute information as to the 
character, number and location of all Russian establishments in America. He 
returned to Prince William's sound to join Martinez, who had been amusing himself 
meanwhile by making a few cursory explorations, and the two then sailed for Oun- 
alaska, where they remained nearly a month enjoying the hospitality of the Russian 
traders. With the first signs of coming winter they bade adieu to Alaska and returned 
to San Bias to report to the viceroy. 

According to the statement given by them and forwarded to Madrid, there were 
eight Russian settlements on the coast, all situated west of Prince William's sound 
while one was then being established in that locality ; and these were occnpied by 252 
subjects of the empress, chiefly natives of Siberia and Kamtchatka. It was also 
reported that information had been received of two vessels which had been dispatched 
to Nootka sound to effect a settlement, and of two others then being constructed at 
Ochotsk for a similar purpose. The court of Spain was much agitated by this infor- 
mation. It revealed a state of affairs highly prejudicial to the interests of Spain on 
our coast. Already Russia had made settlements such as gave her title to the Alaskan 
regions and was developing alarming symptoms of a purpose to establish herself still 
further to the southward. Though the presence of English and American traders 
on the coast was annoying in the extreme, the conduct of Russia was positively alarm- 
ing, and Spain realized that nothing but heroic remedies instantly applied would be 
a,t all effective to ward off the impending danger. 

A communication was at once forwarded to the empress of Russia, remonstrating 
against the encroachments of her subjects upon the dominions of Spain, to which was 
replied that Russian subjects in America were acting under instructions not to 
invade the territory of other nations ; but as neither the remonstrance nor the reply 
defined the limit claimed for their respective dominions, nothing definite was settled 
by the correspondence between the two powers. While this piece of diplomacy was 
being indulged in by the home government, the viceroy in Mexico was applying the 
heroic remedy. Early in 1789 he dispatched Martinez and Haro in their two vessels 
to take possession of Nootka sound, instructing them to treat all foreigners with cour- 
tesy, but to maintain the authority of Spain and her right of dominion at all hazards. 

Meanwhile other vessels were headed for Nootka sound. The Iphigenia and 
Northwest America, having spent the winter at Hawaii, and still sailing under the 
Portuguese flag and license, reaching the port in April in a most deplorable condition, 
so much so that they had to procure supplies and means for continuing their trade 



PACIFIC COAST. 71 

with, the natives from the two American vessels still lying there. Meares had upon 
his return to China formed a trading arrangement with the representatives of the King 
George's Sound Company, and in the spring dispatched the Argonaut and Princess 
Royal to Nootka, remaining himself in China to conduct the company's affairs there 
in person. Since these vessels were provided with licences from both the East India 
and the South Sea companies, the Portuguese flag was dispensed with, and they sailed 
under the British colors. 

On the sixth of May, 1789, the Princesa anchored at Nootka, finding there the 
Columbia and Iphigenia, the other two being absent on a trading voyage along the 
coast. Martinez at once notified Captains Douglas and Kendrick of his intention to 
take possession in the name of the king of Spain, examined their papers, and then 
landed and began the erection of a fort in a commanding position on a small island 
in the bay. No objection was made to these proceedings and the utmost cordial rela- 
tions existed for sometime between the representatives of the three great nations. 
Douglas still preserved the Portuguese character of the Iphigenia, displayed that flag 
at her masthead, and even paid Martinez for supplies furnished by him in bills drawn 
upon Juan Cavallo, the reputed Portuguese owner of the vessel, ignorant of the fact 
that the Macao merchant had become bankrupt and that Meares had transferred the 
whole expedition into English hands and discarded the Portuguese feature. 

A week later, on the fourteenth of May, Captain Haro arrived in the San Carlos, 
and the next day Captain Yiana and Supercargo Douglas were invited by Martinez to 
visit his ship. When the guests entered the cabin of the Princesa they were told to 
consider themselves prisoners, while at the same time the brig w r as taken possession of 
by the Spaniards. On the twenty-sixth of May the Iphigenia was released upon the 
signing by her officers of a paper certifying that they had been kindly treated and not 
interfered with by the Spaniards. The Iphigenia then sailed up the coast, procured a 
valuable cargo of furs, and returned to China, where Douglas severed his connection 
with the vessel. From this circumstance and the fact that she continued to sail under 
the Portuguese flag it would seem evident that she was in reality a genuine Portuguese 
vessel, and had not been included by Meares in his new arrangement with the Kino- 
George's Sound Company. This being the case it is evident that upon her actions, or 
those of her two consorts the previous year, no claim could be founded by England, 
yet such was done and persistently adhered to, on the ground that the vessels were 
actually British though nominally Portuguese in their character. 

On the eighth of June, subsequent to the release and departure of the Iphigenia, 
the little Xorthwest America sailed into port, carrying the Portuguese flag, and was im- 
mediately seized by the Spanish commandant. A few days later the Princess Royal 
arrived from Macao, with the British ensign displayed at her masthead. When 
Martinez learned from Captain Hodson that Cavallo had failed, he declared that he 
would hold the little schooner for what was due him on the bills drawn by Douglas, 
and releasing the crew from custody and permitting them to j)lace the greater quantity 
of their furs on board the Princess Royal, he dispatched the schooner on a trading 
voyage under the command of one the mates of the Columbia. 

The Princess Royal sailed from Nootka on the second of July, and the same day 
the A rgonai.it, commanded by Captain Colnett, entered, though not till the captain was as- 



72 PACIFIC COAST. 

sured by Martinez that it was perfectly safe for him to do so, his timidity being caused 
by information imparted to him of the conduct of Martinez in relation to the Iphigenia 
and North west America. Having entered the bay and anchored between the Princesa and 
San Carlos, Captain Colnett arrayed himself in full uniform and boarded the Princesa in 
acceptance of an invitation from Martinez to pay him a visit and exhibit his papers. 
He descended into the cabin and a most stormy interview ensued between him and the 
Spanish commandant, Colnett informed Martinez that it was his purpose and inten- 
tion to occupy Nootka sound in the name of King George of England, and to erect 
suitable fortifications for its defense ; and was in turn notified that such action on his 
part would not be tolerated, since Spain had already taken possession. The English 
captain became angry and asserted his intention to carry out his purpose in the face of 
all opposition, whereupon Martinez sent for a file of marines and made him a prisoner; 
at the same time a detachment boarded the Argonaut and took possession of her in the 
name of the king of Spain, making prisoners of the entire crew. A few days later the 
Princess Royal appeared at the entrance to the sound, and was instantly boarded by 
the Spaniards and brought into port as a prize. On the thirteenth of July Colnett, 
with all his officers and the greater portion of the captured crews, was placed on board 
the Argonaut and sent as a prisoner to San Bias. The other ship was supplied with a 
complement of officers and men from the Spanish vessels, and was employed for two 
years in the service of Spain. The officers and crew of the Northwest America, 
together with some of the seamen on board the other vessels, were sent to China in the 
Columbia, the American captain receiving a portion of the furs captured with the 
Princess Royal in payment of their passage. 

During all these troubles the two American vessels were unmolested, their com- 
manders mediating frequently between the contending parties, though generally to 
little purpose. The Columbia remained continuously at Nootka, while her smaller 
consort traded and explored up and down the coast and collected a valuable cargo of 
furs. Captain Gray sailed in the Wash ington through the straits between Queen Char- 
lotte island and the main land, and called the former AVashington island, though the 
name seems to have lacked adhesive properties. He also sailed up the Straits of Fuca 
a distance of fifty miles, the Washington being the first vessel to actually enter and ex- 
plore that great outlet of Puget sound. Early in the fall Captains Kendrick and 
Gray exchanged vessels, the latter sailing in the Columbia for China with a large cargo 
of furs and the passengers sent by Martinez, while Kendrick remained on the coast 
with the Washington to prosecute the business of collecting peltry from the natives. 
In September Martinez and Haro took their departure in obedience to instructions re- 
ceived from the viceroy, and Nootka was left without a claimant. 

The Argonaut with its load of English prisoners reached San Bias on the sixteenth 
of August. The commandant at that port, who was Bodega y Quadra, the explorer, 
treated Captain Colnett with great courtesy and soon afterwards sent him to Mexico, 
where the merits of his case were inquired into officially by the viceroy. It was finally 
decided that Martinez, though simply carrying out the letter of his instructions, had 
acted somewhat injudiciously, and that the prisoners should be released "and the cap- 
tured vessels restored. Consequently Captain Colnett sailed in the Argonaut for 
Nootka sound in the spring of 1790, and failing to find the Princess Royal set out in 









h 



PACIFIC COAST. 73 

search of her, and did not succeed in obtaining possession until a year later at the 
Sandwich islands. 

The release of Colnett and the restoration of his damaged vessels was by no 
means the end of the xsootka affair. England and Spain engaged in a diplomatic 
controversy in regard to it, which seriously threatened to involve Europe in a general 
war, and that dreadful result was only avoided by the mutual dislike of both nations 
to precipitate such a bloody conflict. France, Spain and England had not yet recov- 
ered from their recent struggle, and none of them were anxious to renew the contest. 

The Columbia arrived in China with intelligence of the Xootka seizures late in 
the fall of 1789, and Meares, arming himself with statements and depositions in regard 
to the affair, hastened to England, to seek redress for his wrongs and losses. He 
arrived in April and found negotiations already in progress. Spain had undertaken 
to assert at home the same ideas of universal supremacy in the Pacific that had been 
the sole cause of trouble at Xootka, and had sent a communication to the king of Eng- 
land on the tenth of February, notifying him that certain of his subjects had been 
infringing upon her exclusive rights on the American coast, that in consequence the 
ship Argonaut had been seized as a prize and her crew imprisoned, and strongly pro- 
testing against his majesty permitting any of his subjects to either make settlements or 
engage in fishing or trade on the American coast of the Pacific, and demanding pun- 
ishment of all such offenders. England's reply to this haughty demand was charac- 
teristic of that nation, which has always kept a protecting arm around its citizens in 
every quarter of the globe. It was brief and to the point, notifying the court of 
Madrid that since it was evident from the Spanish protest that English subjects had 
been imprisoned and their j)roperty confiscated, proper satisfaction for the insult and 
reparation of the injury must be made before the merits of the controversy would be 
inquired into. The tone of the reply was so belligerent that Spain at once began to 
prepare for war, but to avoid this if possible concluded to modify her demands, and 
notified England that if his majesty would in future keep his subjects out of the Span- 
ish dominions, she would let the matter drop where it was. 

Soon after this Meares arrived in England with his version of the affair, which 
placed it in entirely a new light. Two large fleets were ordered to be fitted for war, 
and a statement of the affair together with the correspondence with Spain was submit- 
ted to parliament, which voted ample supplies and endorsed the most vigorous meas- 
ures for upholding the rights and maintaining the honor of England. A demand was 
made upon Spain for satisfaction. Much controversy followed — messages flying back- 
wards and forwards for three months, during which Europe was kept in a high state 
of excitement. England made full preparations for a descent upon the Spanish set- 
tlements in America, and assembled the greatest armament the nation had ever put 
forth. She formed an alliance with Sweden and the Netherlands in anticipation of 
the union of Spain and France against her, since it was a well-known fact that a fam- 
ily compact for mutual aid existed between the members of the Bourbon family occu- 
pying the thrones of those two kingdoms. The king of Spain formally called upon 
Louis XYI. of France, for the promised aid, but the nation was even then tottering on 
the brink of that horrible abyss of revolution into which it soon plunged, and the 
doomed monarch was powerless. The national assemblv investigated the treaty, sug- 

10 



74 PACIFIC COAST. 

gested that a new and more definite one be made, and ordered an increase of the navy, 
but offered Spain no encouragement that assistance would be given her. England's 
northern allies were in no condition to render her material aid, her exchequer was 
exhausted by her great preparations for war, serious trouble was brewing in the East 
Indies, and the threatening aspect of affairs in France warned her that to form a pro- 
tective alliance with Spain would be far wiser than to go to war. All these consider- 
ations caused Great Britain to recede from her bellicose position and secretly seek the 
mediation of France. After much negotiation the treaty of Nootka was signed 
October 28, 1790, and the threatened war was averted. 

The treaty stipulated that all buildings and tracts of land on the northwest coast 
of America of which Spanish officers had dispossessed any British subjects should be 
restored ; that just reparation should be made by both parties to the agreement for any 
acts of violence committed by the subjects of either of them upon the subjects of the 
other; that any property seized should be restored or compensated for ; that subjects of 
Great Britain should not approach within ten leagues of any part of the coast already 
occupied by Spain ; that north of that point both parties should have equal rights, as 
well as south of the limits of Spanish settlements in South America. These were the 
general features of the convention between the two nations, and were very distasteful 
to a large party in parliament, who opposed the treaty on the ground that England 
gained nothing and lost much ; that formerly British subjects claimed and fully exer- 
cised the right of settlement and trade in the Pacific, whereas England had now 
restricted herself to limits and conditions exceedingly detrimental to her commerce and 
general interests. The treaty, however, was sustained by the administration majority 
in Parliament. 



CHAPTER XI. 

DISCOVERY OF PUGET SOUND AND THE COLUMBIA. 

England Sends Vancouver to the Pacific— Kendrick Sails Around Vancouver Island in the "Washington" - 
Spain Again Takes Possession of Nootka and Explores the Coast — Lieutenant Quimper Explores the 
Entrance to Puget Sound — Malaspina Searches for the Straits of Anian — Second Voyage of the "Colum- 
bia" — Gray Builds the "Adventure" at Cloyoquot — Spain Investigates the Desirability of Holding Nootka — 
Arrival of Vancouver— His Opinion that no such Stream as the Columbia Could Exist— Captain Gray Enters 
the Columbia — Vancouver Explores and Names Puget Sound — Negotiations at Nootka — Broughton Explores 
the Columbia— Vancouver in 1793 and 1794— Northwest Company Organized— Mackenzie's Journey to the 
Pacific. 

Commissioners were appointed by England and Spain to proceed to Nootka and 
execute that portion of the treaty referring to the restoration of property. Captain 
George Vancouver was selected by Great Britain for that service, and given instruc- 
tions to explore the coast thoroughly, and especially to " examine the supposed Strait 
of Juan de Fuca, said to be situated between the 48th and 49th degrees of north lati- 
tude, and to lead to an opening through which the sloop Washington is reported to 



PACIFIC COAST. 75 

have passed in 1789, and to have come out again to the northward of Nootka." In 
March, 1791, Vancouver sailed in the sloop of war Discovery accompanied hy Lieu- 
tenant W. R. Broughton in the armed tender Chatham, hoth vessels being armed for 
war and equipped for a long voyage, and did not reach Nootka until a year later. 

In the fall of 1789, subsequent to the departure of Gray in the Columbia, Captain 
Kendrick passed with the Waxh i nylon entirely through the Straits of Fuca and between 
Vancouver island and the mainland of British Columbia, the American flag being thus 
the first to wave over the waters of that great inland sea. It was this passage of the 
Washington which is referred to in the extract given above of the instructions of the 
lords of admiralty to Captain Vancouver. 

In the spring of 1790 the Mexican viceroy dispatched a fleet to again take pos- 
session of Nootka, under the command of Captain Francisco Elisa, the fiery Martinez 
having been removed. Nootka was, therefore, in full j)Ossession of the Spaniards dur- 
ing the time England and Spain Avere conducting their negotiations. Upon resuming 
possession of Nootka, Spain began a series of short voyages of exploration, more par- 
ticularly to ascertain what settlements were being made by the Russians or other 
foreigners than to accomplish anything of geographical value. The most important of 
these was that of Lieutenant Quimper, who sailed from Nootka in the summer of 1790, 
in the Princess Royal, which had not yet been restored to Captain Colnett, and entered 
the Straits of Fuca a distance of 100 miles, carefully examining both shores of the 
passage. He penetrated into the entrance of Puget sound, but was prevented by 
lack of time from exploring the numerous arms which he observed branching off in 
all directions, many of them evidently extending inland to a great distance. Upon 
some of these he bestowed names, none of which are now used except Canal de 
Guemes and Canal de Haro. 

The next most important was that of Captains Malaspina and Bustamente in the 
Descubierta and Atrevida. During the controversy over the Nootka seizures, the 
romance of Maldonado about the Straits of Anian was rescued from the obscurity into 
which it had long since passed, and received the endorsement of many able persons. 
In consequence of this the expedition was fitted out by Spain to ascertain the truth of 
the narrative, and was dispatched to the coast in the summer of 1791. Malaspina 
carefully explored the shore line in the region of the 60th parallel, where Maldonado 
located the passage, and became convinced that there could be no strait leading through 
the chain of mountains which bordered the coast. He then proceeded to jSTootka, 
where he arrived in August. 

During this time the coast was visited by one French, nine English and seven 
American trading vessels. As their objects were purely commercial, little was accom- 
inished by any of them in the line of new discoveries of importance, though each 
added a little to the fast-growing knowledge of the coast. There was one, however, 
an American vessel, which made the greatest discovery on the coast, and added to the 
territories of the United States the vast region which, sneered at and reviled for years, 
now has unstinted praise showered upon it from the four corners of the globe, and 
like the stone the builders rejected at the temple of the magnificent Solomon, seems 
about to be made the corner stone and crowning glory of the Union. This vessel was 
the Columbia, commanded by Captain Robert Gray. Passing over the voyages of 



76 



PACIFIC COAST. 



other traders and all immaterial details, we proceed directly to the valuable discoveries 
made by Gray. 

The Columbia sailed from Boston on her second visit to the Pacific on the twenty- 
eighth of September, 1790, reached the coast in June, and traded and explored among 
the islands and inlets about Queen Charlotte's island until September. She then sailed 
down thecoast to Cloyoquot, north of the entrance to the Straits of Fuca, where a landing 
was effected and the winter passed in a fortified structure which was called Fort Defi- 
ance. During the winter Gray constructed at Cloyoquot a small vessel which he named 
the Adventure, to be used in collecting furs from the natives. This was the second 
vessel built on the Northern Pacific coast, the first being the Northivest America, con- 
structed by Meares at Nootka in 1788. In the spring the Adventure was disjDatched 
on a trading exjDedition to the north, while Gray sailed southward along the coast on 
a voyage of exploration. 

Early in the spring of 1792 the viceroy of Mexico took energetic steps to deter- 
mine the question of whether the settlement at Nootka was worth contending for, in 
view of the expected arrival of Captain Vancouver. If there was a navigable north- 
west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, then a station at that point would be 
invaluable to the interests of Spain, but if the continent was continuous, so that all 
vessels would be compelled to enter the Pacific from the south, an establishment in so 
high an altitude would not be of sufficient importance to make a contest for its posses- 
sion advisable. To ascertain these facts a vessel was dispatched to search for the Rio 
de los Reyes in the latitude of 53 degrees, two others were to explore and ascertain the 
exact nature of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, while a fourth was instructed to seek along 
the coast of the mainland further to the southward for a suitable location to which to 
remove in case the settlement at Nootka should be abandoned. At the same time 
Captain Bodega y Quadra proceeded to Nootka as commissioner to meet Captain Van- 
couver and fulfill the terms of the treaty, with instructions to abandon Nootka if he 
deemed it necessary and remove all Spanish subjects to the new location further south. 

In April the Discovery and Chatham arrived off the coast in the vicinity of Cape 
Mendocino, and sailed slowly northward, careful observations being taken and a strict 
examination being made of the shore for the discovery of harbors or navigable rivers 
and especially the river of Martin de Aguilar. A point which he conceived to be the 
Cape Blanco indicated on the Spanish charts, Vancouver marked down upon his 
own chart as Cape Orford. The next instance worthy of note was his passage of the 
mouth of the Columbia, which was indicated on the Spanish charts he carried as Heceta 
inlet or the entrance to the Rio de San Roque, while on his English map it was noted 
as the Deception bay of Captain Meares. On the twenty-seventh of April he recorded 
in his journal : " Noon brought us up with a conspicuous point of land composed of a 
cluster of hummocks, moderately high and projecting into the sea. On the south side 
of this promontory was the appearance of an inlet, or small river, the land not indica- 
ting it to be of any great extent, nor did it seem to be accessible to vessels of our 
burthen, as the breakers extended from the above point two or three miles into the 
ocean, until they joined those on the beach nearly four leagues further south. On 
reference to Mr. Meares's description of the coast south of this promontory, I was at 
first induced to believe it to be Cape Shoalwater, but on ascertaining its latitude, I pre- 





'$ms&ff : j , M* 



HP* 






HkS£. 



^ 



i 



PACIFIC COAST. 77 

sumed it to be that which he calls Cape Disappointment; and the opening to the south 
ofit Deception bay. This cape was found to be in latitude 46° 19', longitude 236° 6' 
[He reckoned east from Greenwich.] The sea now changed from its natural to river 
coloured water ; the probable consequence of some streams falling into the bay, or into 
the ocean to the north of it, through the low land. Xot considering this opening- 
worthy of more attention, I continued our pursuit to the N. W., being desirous to em- 
brace the advantages of the prevailing breeze and pleasant weather, so favorable to our 
examination of the coast." 

Vancouver rounded Cape Disappointment and continued up the shore. He says : 
" The country before us presented a most luxuriant landscape, and was probably not a 
little heightened in value by the weather that prevailed. The more interior parts were 
somewhat elevated, and agreeably diversified with hills, from which it gradually de- 
scended from the shore, and terminated in a sandy beach. The whole had the appear- 
ance of a continued forest extending north as far as the eye could reach, which made 
me very solicitous to find a port in the vicinity of a country presenting so delightful a 
prospect of fertility ; our attention was therefore earnestly directed to this object." At 
one time he was of the opinion that Shoalwater bay presented a suitable harbor, but- 
renounced the belief upon attempting to enter the bay and failing because of the pres- 
ence of an unbroken line of breakers. They passed Gray's harbor in the night, and 
after noting the position of Destruction island and observing Mount Olympus, " the 
most remarkable mountain we had seen on the coast of New Albion," fell in with the 
Columbia a few miles south of the Straits of Fuca. 

Vancouver sent an officer to the American vessel to glean information from 
its commander, who hesitated not to tell all he knew of the coast. Among other things 
the English captain notes in his journal : "He likewise informed them of his having 
been off the mouth of a river in the latitude 46° 10', where the outset, or reflux, was 
so strong as to prevent his entering for nine days. This was probably the opening 
passed by us on the forenoon of the twenty-seventh ; and was, apparently, inaccessible, 
not from the current, but from the breakers which extended across it." That Gray 
must have made this effort to enter the Columbia sometime the previous year is evident 
from the fact that Vancouver states that he was " now commencing his summer's trade 
along the coast to the southward." The above remarks show plainly that Vancouver 
had no faith in the existence of such a stream as Aguilar's river, Rio de San Roque, 
Oregon, or River of the West, and this is rendered more certain by an entry in his 
journal made upon reaching Cape Flattery, that there "was not the least appearance of 
a safe or secure harbour, either in that latitude, or from it southward to Cape Mendo- 
cino ; notwithstanding that, in that space, geographers had thought it expedient to 
furnish many. * So minutely had this extensive coast been inspected, 

that the surf had been constantly seen to break upon its shores from the masthead ; 
and it was but in a few small intervals only, where our distance precluded its being- 
visible from the deck. Whenever the weather prevented our making free with the 
shore, or on our hauling off for the night, the return of fine weather and of daylight 
uniformly brought us, if not to the identical spot we had departed from, at least within 
a few miles of it, and never beyond the northern limits of the coast which we had 
previously seen. An examination so directed, and circumstances happily concurring 



78 PACIFIC COAST. 

to permit its being so executed, afforded the most complete opportunity of determining 
its various turnings and windings. It must be considered as a 

very singular circumstance that, in so great an extent of sea coast, we should not until 
now [He was in the Straits of Fuca] have seen the appearance of any opening in its 
shores which presented any certain prospect of affording shelter ; the whole coast 
forming one compact, solid, and nearly straight barrier against the sea. The river 
Mr. Gray mentioned should, from the latitude he assigned to it, have existence in the 
bay, south of Cape Disappointment. This we passed on the forenoon of the twenty- 
seventh ; and, as I then observed, if any inlet or river should be found, it must be a 
very intricate one, and inaccessible to vessels of our burthen, owing to the reefs 
and broken water which then appeared in its neighborhood. Mr. Gray stated that 
he had been several days attempting to enter it, which at length he was unable to 
effect, in consequence of a very strong outset. This is a phenomenon difficult to ac- 
count for, as, in most cases where there are outsets of such strength on a sea coast, there 
are corresponding tides setting in. Be that however as it may, I was thoroughly con- 
vinced, as were also most persons of observation on board, that we could not possibly 
have passed any safe navigable opening, harbour, or place of security for shipping on 
this coast, from Cape Mendocino to the promontory of Classet (Cape Flattery); nor had 
we any reason to alter our opinions." Such was the deliberate conclusion of this dis- 
tinguished navigator after a thorough and searching examination of the coast, and yet 
within the limits he thus declares to be barren of harbors or navigable rivers are to be 
found the harbors of Humboldt bay, Trinidad bay, Crescent City, Port Orford, 
Coquille river, Coos bay, Yaquina bay, Columbia river, Shoalwater bay and Gray's 
harbor. 

Had it not been for the persevering zeal of an American, the Columbia might 
Lave listened solely to "his own dashings" for many years to come, since such a 
decided statement from so competent an officer of his majesty's navy would have been 
received as finally settling the question of the existence of such a stream and have put 
an end to all search for one in that locality. Gray had his own ideas on the subject, 
and proposed to carry them out in spite of the adverse opinion of the British captain. 
He continued his voyage down the coast, and on the seventh of May entered a bay in 
latitude 46 degrees and 48 minutes, where he lay at anchor three days. This he chris- 
tened Bulfinch's harbor, in honor of one of the owners of the Columbia, but it was 
called Gray's harbor by Captain Vancouver in memory of the discoverer, and retains 
that honorable title to the present day. 

Gray rounded Cape Disappointment early on the morning of the eleventh of May, 
and the weather being favorable, set all sail and stood boldly in among the high rolling 
breakers whose threatening aspect had intimidated both Meares and Vancouver and 
caused them to assert that they were impassable. With great nautical skill and superb 
judgment, he followed accurately the channel of the stream, and at one o'clock anchored 
" in a large river of fresh water," at a distance of ten miles from the guarding line of 
breakers. Here he spent three days in filling his casks with fresh water and in trading 
with the natives who swarmed about the vessel in canoes, the Chinook village being 
close by on the river bank. He then sailed up stream "upwards of twelve or fifteen 
miles," but having unfortunately missed the main channel was unable to proceed further, 



PACIFIC COAST. 79 

and dropped down again to the mouth of the river. Having executed some much- 
needed repairs on the vessel, he took advantage of a favorable breeze on the twentieth 
and crossed over the bar to the open sea. To this great stream which he entered May 
11, 1792, Gray gave the name borne by his vessel, Columbia, while the bluffy point to 
the north of the entrance, which had been named Cape San Roque by Heceta and Cape 
Disappointment by Meares, he called Cape Hancock in honor of that revered patriot 
whose bold signature was the first on the declaration of independence. The name of 
Adams, the patriotic statesman of Massachusetts and vice president of the republic, he 
bestowed upon the low point to the south which had been designated by Heceta as Cape 
Frondoso. 

The Columbia sailed northward to the east coast of Queen Charlotte island, where 
she ran upon a sunken ledge of rocks and barely escaped total destruction. She 
managed, however, to reach Nootka sound in a badly damaged condition, where she 
was again made tight and seaworthy by her carpenters. To Captain Bodega y Quadra 
the Spanish commissioner who was awaiting the arrival of Vancouver, Gray gave a 
chart showing the entrance to Bulfinch's harbor and the Columbia, and in conjunction 
with Joseph Ingraham who had been mate of the Columbia during the Nootka difficul- 
ties and who was now captain of the Hope then lying in the harbor, made a statement 
of the difficulty between Colnett and Martinez, which Bodega retained for the inspec- 
tion of Vancouver. Gray and Ingraham then sailed for home by the way of Canton. 

Meanwhile Vancouver had been making many important explorations. With his 
two vessels he entered the Straits of Fuca on the twenty-ninth of April and j)roceeded 
slowly inward, making a careful examination as he progressed. In his exjjlora- 
tions of the straits and Puget sound, so named in honor of one of the officers of his 
vessel, he consumed two months, carefully examining every inlet and arm of the great 
inland sea. Many of the familiar names of that region were bestowed by him ; such as 
New Dungeness, from a fancied resemblance to Dungeness in the British channel; Port 
Discovery, in honor of his own vessel ; Port Townsend, as a compliment to " the noble 
Marquis of that name ;" Mount Baker ; Mount Rainier, in honor of Bear Admiral 
Rainier ; Hood's channel, after Lord Hood; Port Orchard, the name of the officer who 
discovered it ; Admiralty inlet ; Vashon island, after Captain Vashon of the navy ; 
Possession sound, where he landed on the fourth of June and took possession in the 
name of King George of England ; Whidbey island, after one of his lieutenants ; Decep- 
tion pass ; Burrard's channel, in compliment to Sir Harry Burrard ; Bellingham bay ; 
Bute's channel. To the whole body of water to which access was had by way of the 
Straits of Fuca he gave the name of Gulf of Georgia, in honor of his sovereign, while 
the main land surrounding it and reaching south to the 45th parallel, or New T Albion, 
was distinguished by the title of New Georgia. 

As he emerged from Puget sound to proceed northward through the upper por- 
tion of the Gulf of Georgia, he fell in with the two Spanish vessels that had been dis- 
patched early in the spring by the viceroy to explore the Straits of Fuca. Between 
the commanders of these rival vessels many courtesies were exchanged, and, being on 
the same errand, they for a time pursued their explorations together. After parting 
company with the Spaniards, Vancouver proceeded northward, exploring the coast of 
the mainland, until he reached Queen Charlotte island, near which both the Dig- 



80 PACIFIC COAST. 

covery and Chatham grounded on the rocks. They were skillfully extricated from 
their perilous position and taken to Nootka sound. 

Upon his arrival there, whither the two Spanish vessels had preceded him, Van- 
couver opened negotiations with Bodega y Quadra in regard to restoration of lands 
provided for in the treaty. The only houses and lands which British subjects had 
ever possessed in any form, were the temporary structure Meares had erected for his 
men while engaged in building the Northwest America, and the small tract of land 
upon which it stood. Though all vestige of this habitation had disappeared before 
Martinez had taken possession in 1789, still Quadra expressed his willingness to sur- 
render the tract of land to Vancouver, but the English commissioner demanded pos- 
session of the whole of Nootka sound and Cloyoquot. This Quadra refused to give, 
and Vancouver refused to comjjromise his government by receiving less, and sent an 
officer to England by the way of China with information of the condition of affairs. 
Between Vancouver and Quadra personally the utmost cordial relations existed, and 
since the land upon which Nootka stood had been found to be an island, they agreed 
to have the " honors easy" in naming it. It was therefore entered upon the explorer's 
chart as the Island of Quadra and Vancouver, but is now and has been for years 
known only as Vancouver island. 

The Daedalus having arrived from England with supplies, Vancouver sailed from 
Nootka with the three vessels to explore Gray's harbor and the Columbia, having 
received from Quadra the description of those places left with him by Captain Gray. 
On the eighteenth of October, 1792, the Daedalus, commanded by Lieutenant Whidbey, 
entered Gray's harbor, while the two consorts continued to the Columbia. On the 
morning of the nineteenth the Chatham and Discovery attempted the passage of the 
bar, the former crossing safely, but the latter hauling off for fear there was not a suf- 
ficient depth of water. This circumstance led Vancouver to record in his journal that 
his " former opinion of this port being inaccessible to vessels of our burthen was now 
fully confirmed, with this exception, that in very fine weather, with moderate winds, 
and a smooth sea, vessels not exceeding four hundred tons might, so far as we were 
enabled to judge, gain admittance." It was while lying at anchor off the bar that he 
gained a view of a " high, round snow mountain" far up the stream, which he named 
Mount St. Helens, in honor of his Britanic majesty's ambassador at the court of 
Madrid. 

The first sound that saluted the commander of the Chatham upon crossing the 
bar was the report of a cannon, which was answered in a similar manner by Lieuten- 
ant Broughton. It came from a Bristol brig called the Jenny, lying in a sheltered 
bay within the mouth of the stream, which has ever since been known as Baker's bay 
in honor of the captain of that little craft. This made the second vessel to enter the 
river before the representatives of Great Britain undertook to explore it. The Chat- 
ham lay in the river several days, during which time Broughton ascended the stream 
in a boat some 120 miles, as far as a poir.f which he named in honor of the commander 
of the expedition, being the same upon wnich Fort Vancouver was afterwards built by 
the Hudson's Bay Company. During his stay he formally " took possession of the 
river and the country in its vicinity in his Britanic majesty's name, having every rea- 
son to believe that the subjects of no other civilized nation or state had ever entered 





a 

a 



a. 

S 



DC 

a 

2 

< 
S 
a 

x 



Q 
Ui 

z 

- o 

en 

UJ 



PACIFIC COAST. 81 

this river before." The closing portion of this sentence sounds strangely from one 
who had in his possession at the time lie penned it the rough chart made by Gray, 
which had been the cause of his being there at all. It is explained by saying that he 
affected to consider the broad estuary near the mouth of the stream as no portion of 
the river, and that in consequence Gray had not entered the river proper. This 
strained construction England maintained in the after controversy with the United 
States about the rights of discovery. 

Vancouver remained in the Pacific two years longer, spending the summers of 
1793 and 1794 in carefully exploring the coast of the maiuland above Queen Char- 
lotte island, searching every cove and inlet for a passage to the Atlantic, until he 
became as thoroughly convinced that there was no such passage as he had been that 
no such river as the Columbia existed. Meanwhile negotiations were carried on 
between England and Spain in regard to Xootka, and those two nations having allied 
themselves against France, the Xootka affair was dropped. In the spring of 1795 the 
Spaniards abandoned Xootka sound forever, the question of possession never having 
been settled, and thus the whole affair ended. 

When the independence of her American colonies was granted by England, that 
nation was left without any representative in North America by whom her dominion 
could be extended westward, except the Hudson's Bay Company, which organization 
was more deeply interested in maintaining the vast region to the west and north as a 
fur-bearing wilderness than in adding new jewels to the British crown. It was only 
when a rival to the great monopoly grew up and threatened to carry on successful op- 
position that the old company adopted a more aggressive policy. 

As early as 1775 a few Montreal traders had pushed as far west as the SaskatcheAvan 
and Athabaska rivers, and opened up a successful trade, which was carried on for some 
years by independent traders. At last, in 1784, because of inability to contend and 
compete with the monopoly as individuals, these traders combined together as the 
Xorthwest Company of Montreal. This company operated in a most j^ractical manner, 
its agents all being interested partners, and soon became an organization of much 
wealth and power. The company steadily pushed its agents and stations westward, and 
energetically extended the limits of its operations. In 1778 a station had been estab- 
lished on Athabaska river, some 1200 miles northwest of Lake Superior, but in 1788 
this was abandoned and Fort Chipewyan built on Lake Athabaska, which became the 
base of the company's operations in the extreme west. Traders extended their opera- 
tions westward to the Rocky mountains, called by them Shining mountains or Moun- 
tains of Bright Stones. 

In 1789 Alexander Mackenzie, the gentleman in charge of Fort Chipewyan, dis- 
covered the Mackenzie river where it issues from Great Slave lake, and followed down 
its whole course to the Arctic ocean. The same gentleman started in October, 1792, to 
cross the continent to the Pacific. He passed up Peace river and camped until spring 
at the base of the Rocky mountains, engaging in trade. In June, 1793, he crossed the 
mountains, and descended in canoes a large river a distance of 250 miles. This he 
called the Tacoutchee-Tassee, and after the discovery of the Columbia was announced 
it was supposed to be identical with that great stream, until in 1812 Simon Fraser 
traced it to the ocean and called it Fraser's river. Upon leaving this stream Mac- 



82 PACIFIC COAST. 

kenzie continued westward some 200 miles and caught sight of the ocean July 22, 1793 T 
being the first Caucasian, and possibly the first human being, to cross America overland 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific north of Mexico. The place at which he reached the 
ocean was in latitude 52 degrees and 20 minutes, and had been explored and named 
Cascade canal but a few weeks before by Vancouver. 

The two journeys of this energetic trader, the careful explorations of Cook and 
Vancouver, and discovery of the Columbia by Gray, served to enlighten all interested 
nations in regard to the nature of the American continent, and to prove conclusively 
that neither the Straits of Anian nor the Rio de los Reyes had any other existence 
than in the fancy of those who, centuries before, had proclaimed them. The Northwest 
Company pushed its agents down to the headwaters of the Missouri, while French and 
Spanish traders ascended that stream from St. Louis, and engaged in trade with the 
natives and trapped the streams for beaver. Because of the Spanish claim to Louisiana, 
American traders were much confined in the limits of their operations, and were also 
restricted by the holding back of posts in the region of the great lakes which Great 
Britain should have surrendered under the terms of the treaty of 1783. These were 
surrendered in 1794 by special treaty, which instrument also provided that subjects of 
Great Britain and the United States should have unrestricted intercourse and rights of 
trade. From this time American fur traders extended their operations further west- 
ward and increased the volume of their trade. This was the condition of affairs in 
America at the close of the eighteenth century. 



OREGON. 



CHAPTER XII. 

CAPTAINS LEWIS AND CLARKE TRAVERSE THE CONTINENT. 

Situation at the Beginning- of the Nineteenth Century— Colonial Limits of the United States— The Louisiana 
Purchase- -England and America Rivals in the West— Expedition of Lewis and Clarke— Their Winter Among 
the Mandans— Journey up the Missouri, Across the Rockies, Down Clarke's Fork, Through the Lolo Trail, 
Down Clearwater. Snake and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific — They Winter at Fort Clatsop — Discovery of 
the Willamette— The Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Nez Perces— Arrival in St. Louis — What the Expedition 
Accomplished. 

"Take the wings 
Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness, 
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound 
Save his own dashings." 

So sang Bryant of the mighty Columbia and the land of "continuous woods," 
through which it majestically rolls. The name Oregon which Carver had given to the 
Great River of the West was for years applied to the Columbia and the whole region 
through which it passes, stretching from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, and from 
California indefinitely northward. The name bestowed upon the stream by its discov- 
erer gradually crowded Carver's title from the field, until it is now recognized as the 
only proper one, while the significance of Oregon has gradually been contracted until 
that title now applies only to the state of which we write. 

At the dawning of the present century, noAv rapidly drawing near to the "sear and 
yellow leaf," three powerful nations claimed dominion on our coast, the indefinite boun- 
daries of their alleged possessions conflicting and overlapping to such an extent as to be 
a constant menace of war. England, Spain and Russia claimed territorial sovereignty 
gained by the discoveries and acts of persons officially empowered by their respective 
governments, while in common with them representatives of the merchant fleets of the 
United States, France, Portugal and Austria sought the Pacific waters to reap the har- 
vest of wealth that lay in the fur trade of the coast. 

Suddenly and almost unexpectedly a new nation stepped upon the plain to contest 
with her powerful rivals the palm of territorial dominion, and this was the new-born 
republic, the United States of America. In the few years which had elapsed since her 



84 OREGON. 

long struggle for independence had been crowned with success, and especially since a 
constitutional bond had firmly cemented the states into one grand, united nation, her 
growth in population, wealth, power and importance had been wonderful, and she now 
prepared to assert her natural right to extend her borders in the direction plainly indi- 
cated by the hand of nature. 

The position the United States then occupied in relation to Oregon may be briefly 
stated as follows: At the treaty of 1783, where Great Britain formally acknowledged 
t'le independence of her valiant colonies, her commissioners for a long time refused to 
relinquish to them that portion of her possessions lying between the Alleghanies and 
the Mississippi ; but as the colonies had been accustomed to exercise jurisdiction as far 
west as the great river of DeSoto, being the extreme w r estern limit of British posses- 
sions since it was the eastern boundary of Louisiana, the American commissioners in- 
sisted upon that territory being included, and finally carried their point. Even then it 
was eleven years before England surrendered the seven military posts within that por- 
tion of the United States and then only after much pressure had been brought to bear. 
England was, therefore, only represented in America after the revolution, so far as 
w r estern exploration and settlement was concerned, by the powerful Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, and its new rival, the Northwest Company, whose struggle for possession of the 
unclaimed fur regions west of Canada and Hudson's bay has been already alluded 
to and will again occupy attention further on. The boundary agreed upon between 
England and the United States followed up the St. Lawrence from a certain initial 
point, through the chain of great lakes and the smaller ones lying west of Superior as 
far as the Lake of the Woods, whence the line cut across to the headwaters of the 
Mississipj)i, and followed down that stream to the Spanish Florida line. This left 
within the limits of the United States a portion of that extremely desirable region 
spoken of by Lahontan, Hennepin and others, and but recently described by Captain 
Jonathan Carver, while the new nation bordered upon the remainder with nothing 
but the theoretical title of Spain to stand between her and an indefinite extension 
westward. On the other hand, only above the United States line did Great Britain's 
possessions border upon this terra incognita and in a region universally recognized as 
being fit only for the occupation of wandering fur traders. 

The title to Louisiana which Spain had acquired by purchase from France in 1762, 
she reconveyed to that powerful nation in 1800 ; but Napoleon, recognizing the fact 
that his ambitious designs in Europe would only be hampered by the possession and 
necessary protection of vast territorial interests in the United States, and desiring to 
spite England and place her face to face in America with an energetic and powerful 
rival, sold the whole province with all the right and title of France to the United 
States in 1803. The eastern boundary was the Mississippi ; its southwestern limit the 
Spanish, Mexican and California possessions, while to the northwest there was no limit 
whatever. This action, so entirely unexpected by England, changed the whole aspect 
of affairs in America, and left the United States without any bar whatever to prevent 
the extension of her dominions toward the Pacific. 

At the time John Ledyard undertook to organize a company in Paris to engage 
in the Pacific fur trade, Thomas Jefferson was residing there as representative of the 
United States at the court of France, and became deeply interested in his project of 




,-.iJ,:.(^; ; ;,y,?^:^;,,>;'v,J> 



OREGON. 85 

exploring the northwestern wilderness of America, which was defeated by the Russian 
traders. In 1792 Mr. Jefferson proposed to the American Philosophical Society that 
a subscription be raised for the purpose of engaging some competent person to explore 
that region "by ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony mountains, and descending 
the nearest river to the Pacific." Meriwether Lewis, a native of Virginia and a lieu- 
tenant in the United States army, warmly solicited the position, and was selected at 
the request of Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Andre Michaux, a distinguished French botanist, 
was chosen as his traveling companion. This gentleman was in the employ of the 
French government, and when he had proceeded as far as Kentucky upon the overland 
journey, he was recalled by the French minister, and the expedition was abandoned. 
On the eighteenth of January, 1803, Mr. Jefferson, as president of the United States, 
incorporated into a special message to congress on the Indian question a suggestion that 
such a journey as he had before advocated be made by representatives of the govern- 
ment. This proposition was approved by congress and an ample appropriation made 
to carry it into effect. Lewis had then become a captain and was acting in the capacity 
of private secretary to the president, and upon urgent solicitation received the direction 
of the enterprise. Captain Lewis selected William Clarke as an associate in command, 
and that gentleman accordingly received a captain's commission and was detailed for 
this duty. 

In the instructions drawn up for the guidance of the party, the president says: 
"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal streams 
of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether 
the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and 
practicable water communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce." 
They were directed to acquire as intimate a knowledge as possible of the extent and 
number of Indian tribes, their manners, customs and degree of civilization, and to 
report fully upon the topography, the character of the soil, the natural products, the 
animal life and minerals, as well as to ascertain by scientific observations and inquiry 
as much as possible about the climate, and to inquire especially into the fur trade and 
the needs of commerce. Since Louisiana had not yet been formally conveyed to the 
United States, Captain Lewis' instructions contained a paragraph saying: "Your mis- 
sion has been communicated to the ministers here from France, Spain and Great Britain, 
and through them to their governments ; and such assurances given them as to its ob- 
jects, as we trust will satisfy them. The country of Louisiana having been ceded by 
Spain to France, the passport you have from the minister of France, the representative 
of the present sovereign of the country ; will be a protection with all its subjects ; and 
that from the minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any traders 
of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet." 

All arrangements were completed and Lewis left Washington on the fifth of July, 
1803, only a few days subsequent to the receipt of the joyful intelligence that France 
had ceded Louisiana to the United States. He was joined by Clarke at Louisville, 
and the two selected their men and repaired to St. Louis, near which they encamped 
until spring. The party which finally started on this great journey May 14, 1804, 
consisted of Captain Meriwether Lewis, Captain William Clarke, nine young men 
from Kentucky, fourteen soldiers, two French watermen, known in the parlance of 



86 OKEGON. 

fur traders as voyageurs, an interpreter and hunter and a negro servaut of Captain 
Clarke. Besides these were a number of assistants who accompanied the expedition as 
far as the Mandan country. 

The party ascended the Missouri as far as the region inhabited by the Mandan 
Indians, with whom they spent the winter, and while there negotiated treaties of peace 
between their hosts and the Ricarees, and informed themselves carefully upon the con- 
dition of Indian affairs and the geography of the surrounding country. 

In the spring of 1805 the journey westward was resumed, by following up the 
Missouri, of whose course, tributaries and the great falls they had received very minute 
and accurate information from their Mandan friends. Passing the mouth of the Yel- 
lowstone, which name they record as being but a translation of Roche Jaune, the title 
given it by French-Canadian trappers who had already visited it, they continued up 
the Missouri, passed the castellated rocks and the great falls and cascades, ascended 
through the mighty canyon, and reaching the headwaters of the stream crossed the 
Rocky mountain divide and came upon the stream variously known along its course as 
Deer Lodge, Hellgate, Bitterroot, Clarke's Fork of the Columbia and Pend d'Oreille 
river. Upon this they bestowed the name Clarke's river, and so it should be called 
from its source in the Rocky mountains to where it unites with the main stream in 
British Columbia. From this river the advance party under Clarke crossed the Bit- 
terroot mountains by the Lolo trail, suffering intensely from cold and hunger, and on 
the twentieth of September reached a village of Nez Perce Indians situated on a plain 
about fifteen miles from the south fork of Clearwater river, where they were received 
with great hospitality. This first passage of the mountains by representatives of the 
United States and their warm reception by the Indians, contrast strongly with a scene 
witnessed by this same Lolo trail, Avhen in 1877 Howard's army hotly pursued Chief 
Joseph and his little band of hostile Nez Perces, who were fleeing before the avengers 
from the scene of their many bloody massacres. 

The almost famished men partook of such quantities of the food liberally pro- 
vided by their savage hosts that many of them became ill, among them being Captain 
Clarke, who was unable to continue the journey until the second day. He then went 
to the village of Twisted-hair, the chief, situated on an island in the stream mentioned. 
To the river he gave the name Koos-koos-kee, erroneously supposing it to be its 
Indian title. The probabilities are that the Nez Perces, in trying to inform Captain 
Clarke that this river flowed into a still larger one, the one variously known as Lewis, 
Sahaptin or Snake river, used the words " Koots-koots-kee," meaning " This is the 
smaller," and were understood to have meant that as the name of the stream. The 
Nez Perce name is Kaih-kaih-koosh, signifying Clearwater, the name it is gener- 
ally known by. 

Having been united the two parties a few days later journeyed on down the Clear- 
water. Concerning their deplorable condition and their method of traveling the 
journal says : " Captain Lewis and two of the men were taken very ill last evening, 
and to-day he could scarcely sit on his horse, while others were obliged to be put on 
horse-back and some, from extreme weakness and pain, were forced to lie down along- 
side of the road. * The weather was very hot and oppressive to the 
party, most of whom are now complaining of sickness. Our situation, indeed, ren- 



OREGON. 87 

dered it necessary to husband our remaining strength and it was determined to proceed 
down the river in canoes. Captain Clarke, therefore, set out with the Twisted-hair, 
and two young men, in quest of timber for canoes. Having resolved 

to go down to some spot calculated for building canoes, we set out early this morning 
and proceeded five miles, and encamped on low ground on the south opposite the forks 
of the river." The canoes being constructed they embarked in the month of October 
on their journey down the Clearwater and connecting streams for the Pacific, leaving 
what remained of their horses in charge of the friendly Nez Perces. They had for 
some time been subsisting upon roots, fish, horse meat and an occasional deer, crow, or 
wolf, but having left their horses behind them their resort when out of other food 
now became the wolfish clogs they purchased from the Indians. 

Upon reaching Snake river which was named in honor of Captain Lewis, the 
canoes were turned down that stream, which they followed to the Columbia, naming the 
Tukannon river Kim-so-emim, a title derived from the Indians, and upon the Pa- 
louse bestowing the name Drewyer, in honor of the hunter of the party. They then 
followed down the Columbia passing a number of rapids, and arriving at the Cascades 
on the twenty-first of October. A portage was made of all their effects and a portion 
of the canoes, the remainder making the perilous descent of the cascades or falls in 
safety. The mouth of the Willamette was passed without the addition of so large a 
stream being noticed. Cape Disappointment was reached November 15, and the eyes 
of the weary travelers were gladdened with a sight of the graat ocean which had been 
their goal for more than a year. The season of Avinter rains having set in, they were 
soon driven by high water from the low land on the north bank of the stream, eleven 
miles above the cape, which they had selected for their winter residence. They then 
left the Chinooks, crossed the river, and built a habitation on the high land on the 
south side of the stream, which they called Fort Clatsop, in honor of the Indians who 
inhabited that region. Here they spent the winter, making occasional short excursions 
along the coast. The departure for home was delayed with the hope that some trading- 
vessel might appear from which sadly-needed supplies might be obtained, but being- 
disappointed in this they loaded their canoes and on March 23, 1806, took final leave 
of Fort Clatsoj:). Before going they presented the chiefs of the Chinooks and Clatsops, 
with certificates of kind and hospitable treatment, and circulated among the natives 
several papers, posting a copy on the wall of the abandoned fort, which read as follows: 
" The object of this last is, that through the medium of some civilized person, who 
may see the same, it may be made known to the world, that the party, consisting of 
the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who were sent out by the Govern- 
ment of the United States to explore the interior of the continent of North America, 
did penetrate the same by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the dis- 
charge of the latter into the Pacific ocean, where they arrived on the fourteenth day 
of November, 1805, and departed the twenty-third day of March, 1806, on their 
return to the United States by the same route by which they had come out." To this 
was appended a list of the members of the expedition. One of these copies was handed 
by an Indian the following year to a fur trader whose vessel had entered the Columbia, 
by whom it was taken to China and a transcription of it forwarded to the United 



88 OREGON. 

States ; thus, even had the party perished on the return journey, evidence of the com- 
pletion of their task was not wanting. 

Upon taking an invoice of their possessions before starting upon the return, they 
found that their goods available for traffic with the Indians consisted of six blue robes, 
one scarlet robe, one U. S. artillery hat and coat, five robes made from the national 
ensign, and a few old clothes trimmed with ribbon. Upon these must they depend 
for purchasing provisions and horses and for winning the hearts of stubborn chiefs. 

They proceeded up the south bank of the stream, until they came unexpectedly 
upon a large river flowing into it from the south, On an island near its mouth, known 
to the early trappers as Wapatoo and now called Sauvie's island, they came upon an 
Indian village, where they were refused a supply of food. To impress them with his 
power, Captain Clarke, entered one of their habitations and cast a few sulphur matches 
into the fire. The savages were frightened at the blue flame and looked upon the 
strange visitor as a great medicine man. They implored him to extinguish the " evil 
fire," and brought all the food he desired. The name of the Indian village was Mult- 
nomah, but Captain Clarke understood the name to apj)ly to the river, of whose course 
he made careful inquiry. Upon the map of this expedition the Multnomah is repre- 
sented as extending southward and eastward into California and Nevada, and the In- 
dians who resided along the streams that flow from southeastern Oregon into the Snake 
are represented as living on the upper branches of the Multnomah. The true Indian 
name of the river and valley is Wallamet, which has been corrupted to Willamette by 
those who conceived the idea that it was of French origin. The confusion between, 
Indian, French and English names in this region has resulted in many very pecu- 
liar and ridiculous appellations. 

At the mouth of Lapage river, the stream later named John Day, in memory 
of the bold mountaineer who met such a tragic fate, the canoes were abandoned, and 
the party proceeded up the Columbia on foot, packing their baggage upon the backs of 
a few horses purchased from the natives. Crossing the Umatilla, which they called 
You-ma-lolam, they arrived at the mouth of the Walla Walla, on the twenty-seventh of 
April. Yellept, the Walla Walla chief, was a man of unusual capacity and power, and 
extended to them the most cordial and bountiful hospitality they had enjoyed since 
leaving the abodes of civilization. How different would have been the reception 
extended them could the old chief have gazed into the future with prophetic eye, and 
seen his great successor, Peo-peo-mux-mux, murdered while unjustly a prisoner by 
members of the same race and tribe to which these white guests belonged ! It is 
related of Yellept that in after years, having seen the last of five noble sons perish in 
battle or by the hand of disease, he called together the tribe, and throwing himself 
upon the body of his last son sternly bade them to bury him with his dead. With loud 
lamentations and heart-broken sobs they did as he commanded, and buried alive the 
great chief they both loved and feared. This was the man who extended his hospi- 
talities to Lewis and Clarke, and because of the important part the Walla Wallas and 
Cay uses played in the after history of this region, the following account given by those 
gentlemen of their entertainers is presented : Their journal says : " Immediately 
upon our arrival, Yellept, who proved to be a man of much influence, not only in his 
own, but in the^neighboring nations, collected the inhabitants, and after having made a 




W/ULING-lirH-PORTLAND-OR. 



Residence of O.Cdolidge, Ashland. 



OREGON. 89 

harrangue, the purport of which was to induce the nations to treat us hospitably, set 
them an example, by bringing himself an armful of wood, and a platter containing 
three roasted mullets. They immediately assented to one part, at least, of the recom- 
mendation, by furnishing us with an abundance of the only sort of fuel they employ, 
the stems of shrubs growing in the plains. We then purchased four dogs, on which 
we supped heartily, having been on short allowance for two days past. When we were 
disposed to sleep, the Indians retired immediately on our request, and, indeed, uni- 
formly conducted themselves with great propriety. These people live on roots, which 
are very abundant in the plains, and catch a few salmon-trout; but at present they 
seem to subsist chiefly on a species of mullet, weighing from one to three pounds. 
Monday, twenty-eighth, we purchased ten dogs. While this trade 
was carrying on by our men, Yellept brought a fine white horse, and presented him to 
Captain Clarke, expressing at the same time a wish to have a kettle ; but on being 
informed that we had already disposed of the last kettle we could spare, he said he 
would be content with any present we should make in return. Captain Clarke, there- 
fore, gave his sword, for which the chief had before expressed a desire, adding one 
hundred balls, some powder, and other small articles, Avith which he appeared perfectly 
satisfied. We were now anxious to depart, and requested Yellept to lend us canoes for 
the purpose of crossing the river. But he would not listen to any proposal of leaving 
the village. He wished us to remain two or three days ; but would not let us go to- 
day, for he had already sent to invite his neighbors, the Chimnapoos (Cayuses), to 
come down this evening and join his people in a dance for our amusement. We urged, 
in vain, that by setting out sooner, we would the earlier return with the articles they 
desired ; for a day, he observed, would make but little difference. We at length men- 
tioned, that, as there was no wind, it was now the best time to cross the river, and 
would merely take the horses over, and return to sleep at their village. To this he 
assented, and then we crossed with our horses, and having hobbled them, returned to 
their camp. Fortunately there was among these Wollawollahs, a prisoner belonging 
to a tribe of Shoshonee or Snake Indians, residing to the south of the Multnomah, and 
visiting occasionally the heads of the Wollawollah creek. Our Shoshonee woman, 
Sacajaweah, though she belonged to a tribe near the Missouri, spoke the same language 
as this prisoner, and by their means we were able to explain ourselves to the Indians, 
and answer all their inquiries with respect to ourselves and the object of our journey. 
Our conversation inspired them with much confidence, and they soon brought several 
sick persons, for whom they requested our assistance. We splintered the broken arm 
of one, gave some relief to another, whose knee was contracted by rheumatism, and 
administered what we thought beneficial for ulcers and eruptions of the skin, on various 
parts of the body, which are very common disorders among them. But our most valu- 
able medicine was eye-water, which we distributed, and which, indeed, they required 
very much; the complaint of the eyes, occasioned by living on the water, and increased 
by the fine sand of the plains, being now universal. A little before sunset, the Chim- 
napoos, amounting to one hundred men and a few women, came to the village, 
and joining the Wollawollahs, who were about the same number of men, formed 
themselves in a circle round our camj), and waited very patiently till our men were 
disposed to dance, which they did for about an hour, to the tune of the violin. They 



90 OREGON. 

then requested to see the Indians dance. With this they readily complied, and the 
whole assemblage, amounting, with the women and children of the village, to several 
hundred, stood up, and sang and danced at the same time. The exercise was not, in- 
deed, very graceful, for the greater part of them were formed into a solid column, round 
a kind of hollow square, stood on the same place, and merely jumped up at intervals, 
to keep time to the music. Some, however, of the more active warriors entered the 
square, and danced round it sidewise, and some of our men joined in the dance, to the 
si'reat satisfaction of the Indians. The dance continued till ten o'clock the next morn- 
ing. In the course of the day we gave small medals to two inferior chiefs, each of 
whom made us a present of a fine horse. We were in a poor condition to make an 
adequate acknowledgment for this kindness, but gave several articles, among which 
was a pistol, with some hundred rounds of ammunition. We have, indeed, been treated 
by these people with an unusual degree of kindness and civilty. * * * We may 
indeed, justly affirm that of all the Indians whom we have met since leaving the United 
States, the Wollawollahs were the most hospitable, honest and sincere." 

Bidding adieu to these hospitable people, they left the Columbia on the twenty- 
ninth of April and followed eastward what is known as the Nez Perce trail. They 
Avent up the Touchet, called by them White Stallion because of the present Yellept 
had made to Captain Clarke, the Patet and Pataha and down the Alpowa to Snake 
river, which they crossed and followed up the north side of Clearwater until they 
reached the village of Twisted-hair, where had been left their horses the fall before. 
The Lolo trail was not yet free from snow and for six weeks they resided among the 
Nez Perces, a tribe closely woven into the history of this region. Of them and the 
intercourse held with them the fall before, the journal says : " The Chopunnish or 
Pierce-nosed nation, who reside on the Kooskooskee and Lewis' rivers, are in person 
stout, portly, well-looking men; the women are small, with good features, and generally 
handsome, though the complexion of both sexes is darker than that of the Tushepaws. 
In dress they resemble that nation, being fond of displaying their ornaments. The 
buffalo or elk skin robe decorated with beads, sea shells, chiefly mother-of-pearl, 
attached to an otter skin collar, and hung in the hair, which falls in front in two queues; 
feathers, paint of different kinds, principally white, green and light blue, all of which, 
they find in their own country; these are the chief ornaments they use. In winter they 
wear a short shirt of dressed skins, long painted leggings and moccasins, and a plait of 
twisted grass around the neck. The dress of the women is more simple, consisting of a 
long shirt of argalia or ibex skin, reaching down to the ankles without a girdle ; to 
this are tied little pieces of brass and shells, and other small articles ; but the head 
is not at all ornamented. The dress of the female is indeed more modest, 
and more studiously so, than any we have observed, though the other sex is 
careless of the indelicacy of exposure. The Chopunnish have very few amusements, 
for their life is painful and laborious ; and all their exertions are necessary to earn 
even their precarious subsistence. During the summer and autumn they are busily 
occupied in fishing for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. In the win- 
ter they hunt the deer on snow-shoes over the plains, and towards spring cross the 
mountains to the Missouri, for the purpose of trafficing for buffalo robes. The incon- 
veniences of that comfortless life are increased by frequent encounters with their 



OREGON. 91 

enemies from the west, who drive them over the mountains with the loss of their horses, 
and sometimes the lives of many of the nation. Though originally the same people, 
their dialect varies very perceptibly from that of the Tnshepaws ; their treatment of us 
differed much from the kind and disinterested services of the Shoshonees (Snakes); they 
are indeed selfish and avaricious ; they part very reluctantly with every article of food 
or clothing ; and while they expect a recompense for every service, however small, do 
not concern themselves about reciprocating any presents we may give them. They are 
generallv health v — the only disorders, which we have had occasion to remark, bein^- 
of a scrofulous kind, and for these, as well as for the amusement of those who are in 
good health, hot and cold bathing is very commonly used. The soil of these prairies 
is of a light yellow clay, intermixed with small, smooth grass ; it is barren, and pro- 
duces little more than a bearded grass about three inches high, and a prickly pear, of 
which we now found three species." It is very evident that these gentlemeD were not 
acquainted with the attributes of the succulent bunch grass, the stockman's friend, nor 
of the soil, for the country they denominated "barren" is now producing thirty bushels 
of wheat to the acre without any irrigation or fertilizing of any kind. 

On the fifteenth of June an effort was made to cross the Bitterroot mountains, but 
it was unsuccessful, and not until the thirtieth were the mountains safely passed. 
On the fourth of July the company separated into two parties, one of them under Cap- 
tain Lewis striking across the mountains to the Missouri, down which it passed, ex- 
ploring the larger tributaries and learning much of the geography of Montana ; the 
other was led by Clarke to the headwaters of the Yellowstone, down which it passed 
to the Missouri, uniting with the first party some distance below the mouth of the 
Yellowstone on the twelfth of August. They then continued down the stream, arriv- 
ing at St. Louis September 25, 1806, having been gone more than two years, and hav- 
ino- achieved honor for themselves and rendered inestimable services to their o-overnment. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE ASTORIA ENTERPRISE. 

The Northwest Company Establishes a Post on Fraser Lake— Result of the Journey of Lewis and Clarke — Fort 
Henry Built by Americans on Snake River — Organization of the Pacific Fur Company— Canadian Voyageurs — 
Astoria Founded — Sad Fate of the Tonquin— Terrible Sufferings of Hunt's Party— Success of the Business in 
1813— McDougal Sells the Property to the Northwest Company — The Other Parties Return to the Atlantic 
Coast. 

When Great Britain was officially notified that an expedition was about to be 
dispatched by the United States government to explore that much-claimed region lying 
to the west of the Mississippi, much anxiety was felt, especially by the Xorthwest Com- 
pany of Montreal, whose traders were operating farther west and south than were the 
employees of the Hudson's Bay Company. They could not be expected to submit 



92 OREGON. 

without a struggle to the loss of so vast a territory in which to prosecute their peculiar 
industry. The line of division west of the Lake of the Woods was undefined, and the 
extent of territory to be occupied in the future by England and America depended 
largely upon the actual occupancy by the contending parties. The Northwest Com- 
pany consequentlv, in 1804, dispatched a trusted agent named Laroque, in command 
of a party, with instructions to establish trading posts on the Columbia. .Laroque 
failed utterly to accomplish the purpose of his journey, since circumstances conspired 
to prevent him from progressing beyond the Missouri river in the Mandan country. 
The next year Simon Fraser left the company's headquarters at Fort Chipewyan, and 
following the course pursued thirteen years before by Mackenzie, reached Fraser lake, 
where he founded a trading post. This post of the Northwest Company was the first 
establishment made by Englishmen or Americans west of the Rocky mountains, and 
lies one hundred miles north of the international line subsequently established. The 
name New Caledonia was bestowed upon that region, which was considered to lie north 
of the country known as Oregon. 

The return of Lewis and Clarke was the cause of great rejoicing in the United 
States. Mr. Jefferson says : " Never did a similar event excite more joy throughout 
the United States. The humblest of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue 
of this journey, and looked forward with impatience to the information it would furnish. 
Their anxieties, too, for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement 
by lugubrious rumors, circulated from time to time on uncertain authorities, and 
uncontradicted by letters, or other direct information, from the time they had left the 
Mandan towns, on their ascent up the river in Aj^ril of the preceding year, 1805, 
until their actual return to St. Louis." Captain Lewis was soon after his return ap- 
pointed governor of Louisiana, with which his journey had rendered him more familiar 
than any other man except his associate ; and Captain Clarke was appointed general of 
militia of the same territory and agent for Indian affairs in that vast region he had 
explored. During a period of temporary mental derangement Captain Lewis died by 
his own hand, in September, 1809, before he had fully completed his narrative of the 
journey. The history of the expedition Avas prepared from his manuscript under the 
direction of Captain Clarke and was first published in 1814. The general details, 
however, were spread throughout the country immediately upon their return, especially 
on the frontier. During their absence other exploring parties were traversing Louis- 
iana in various directions in search of information for the government. Lieutenant 
Pike ascended the Mississippi to its headwaters in 1805, and the following year jour- 
neyed southwestward from the mouth of the Missouri to the sources of the Arkansas, 
Red and Rio Bravo del Norte. At the same time Dunbar, Hunter and Sibley explored 
Red river and its companion streams. These explorations served to greatly stimulate 
the fur trade carried on from St. Louis and Macinaw, as well as to strengthen the 
government in its purpose of adhering to its right to Louisiana, acquired by the 
tripple method of purchase, discovery and exploration. To these was soon added the 
fourth and most important — occupation. 

One of the first results of the expedition was the organization of the Missouri Fur 
Company, in 1808, with headquarters at St, Louis. Trading posts were established on 
the affluents of the Mississippi and Missouri, and that same year Mr. Henry, one of 



OREGON. 9:5 

the agents of the company, crossed the mountains and founded Fort Henry on the 
headwaters of Lewis or Snake river, being the first American establishment west of the 
Rocky mountains. The first effort to occupy the mouth of the Columbia was made by 
the captain . of one of the American vessels trading in the Pacific, whose name is 
variously given by historians as T. Winship, Nathaniel Winship, and Captain Smith. 
In 1810 this gentleman built a small house for trading purposes at Oak Point, on the 
south bank of the Columbia some sixty miles above its mouth, far enough up the 
stream to meet even the requirements of Captain Vancouver's idea of what constituted 
a river. 

During the first decade of the nineteenth century American fishing and trading 
vessels crowded the Pacific, while other nations were not entirely unrepresented. The 
fur trade developed into a great industry, being conducted by them in the most prac- 
tical manner. All furs collected by the Russian American Trading Company were 
sent to China or Russia by land from Kamtchatka, since their vessels were not granted 
the privilege of entering Chinese ports. It was this fact and because England had 
granted to monopolies the control of her Pacific commerce, that the fur trade by sea 
was conducted chiefly by Americans. That this condition of affairs should be especially 
distasteful to the subjects of Great Britain is natural. They looked upon the enter- 
prise and success of these " Yankee adventurers " with jealous eyes, nor were they 
willing to give them the least credit for their skill as navigators or energy as trades- 
men. Because they conducted the details of their traffic in such a way as to render it 
highly successful, they Avere classed by the English traders as adventurers, though often 
the representatives of wealthy and substantial business houses. Archibald Campbell 
thus contemptuously reviews their method of carrying on the Pacific commerce : 
" These adventurers set out on the voyage with a few trinkets of very little value. In 
the Southern Pacific, they pick up a few seal skins, and perhaps a few butts of oil ; at 
the Gallipagos, they lay in turtle, of which they preserve the shells ; at Valparaiso they 
raise a few dollars in exchange for European articles ; at Nootka, and other parts of 
the northwest coast, they traffic with the natives for furs, which, when winter com- 
mences, they carry to the Sandwich islands, to dry and preserve from vermin ; here 
they leave their own people to take care of them, and, in the spring, embark, in lieu, 
the natives of the islands, to assist in navigating to the northwest coast in search of 
more skins. The remainder of the cargo is then made up of sandal, which grows 
abundantly in the woods of Atooi and Owyhee (Hawaii), of tortoise shells, sharks' 
fins, and pearls of an inferior kind, all of which are acceptable in the China market; 
and with these and their dollars they purchase cargoes of teas, silks and nankins, and 
thus complete their voyage in the course of two or three years." 

This may be considered a correct statement of the general manner of conducting 
the trade by Americans, with the exception of the " few trinkets " slur, for the majority 
of vessels, which were large and valuable ones, took out with them quite extensive 
cargoes of English, American and other manufactured goods and products, with which 
they supplied the Spanish and Russian settlements, the latter in particular relying 
almost wholly upon the Americans for their supplies of ammunition, sugar, spirits and 
manufactured articles. That a large proportion of furs procured from the natives were 
paid for in " trinkets " is true, but this practice was as much indulged in by English 



94 OREGON. 

traders on the Atlantic side as by Americans on the Pacific, and such articles have 
always in every land and by every nation been deemed a valuable consideration in 
dealing with uncivilized races. The Americans are deserving of much credit for their 
economical, energetic and highly practical method of conducting their commercial 
ventures in the Pacific. 

In one particular, however, some of these independent traders, who might, per- 
haps, merit the contemptuous title of adventurers bestowed upon them all by their 
rivals, were guilty of conduct very reprehensible when viewed from a certain stand- 
point. Caring only for present profits and heedless of the effect of their conduct upon 
the future of their trade, they supplied the Indians with whisky and fire-arms. 
Upon the first glance it would seem that, as the Indians were chiefly depended upon to 
provide the furs, any addition made to their facilities for accomplishing this would be 
beneficial to the business and that the giving of guns to them would result in an in- 
crease of the trade ; but the opposite was the case. Irving says : " In this way several 
fierce tribes in the vicinity of the Russian posts, or within range of their trading ex- 
cursions, were furnished with deadly means of warfare, and rendered troublesome and 
dangerous neighbors." The fact is that the Russian intercourse with the natives was 
often marked by conduct so illiberal and heartlessly cruel that it is no wonder they 
objected to their victims being supplied with means of asserting their rights. Repre- 
sentations were made by the Russian government to the United States of this objection- 
able conduct of American traders, but since no law or treaty was infringed the govern- 
ment could do nothing. It, however, applied to John Jacob Astor, a merchant of New 
York, who had long been engaged in the fur trade about the lakes and headwaters of 
the Mississi]3pi, to see if he could not suggest a remedy. 

Mr. Astor conceived the idea of establishing a post at the mouth of the Columbia, 
from which the Russian traders could be s applied annually by a vessel sent out from 
New York, and which would be the headquarters for a large trade with the interior. 
By this systematic conduct of the business he expected to supersede the independent 
traders, remove the cause of irritation to Russia, and found permanent establishments 
of the United States along the Columbia. Mr. Astor imparted his idea to the presi- 
dent and cabinet, by whom it was heartily endorsed, and he was assured that all the 
support and encouragement would be his which the government could properly offer. 
President Jefferson had, as we have seen, always been a warm advocate of American 
supremacy in this region, and in a letter written in later years to Mr. Astor, said : " I 
considered, as a great public acquisition, the commencement of a settlement on that 
part of the western coast of America, and looked forward with gratification to the time 
when its descendants should have spread themselves through the whole length of that 
coast, covering it with free and independent Americans, unconnected with us but by 
the ties of blood and interest, and enjoying like us the rights of self-government." 
Grand as was that great statesman's conception of the destiny of this coast, it is trans- 
cended by actual, living reality. Not only the " ties of blood and interest," but of 
national union and loyal brotherhood, bind together the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, 
while the great interior wilderness has now become more potent as a bond of union to 
hold them together, than it then was as a barrier to keep them apart. 



OREGON. 95 

Mr. Astor associated with himself as managing partners several experienced men, 
some of whom had formerly been connected with the Northwest Company. This was 
a very unwise, and, as it afterwards proved, an unfortunate step. These men were 
thoroughly competent to manage the details of the business, being energetic and able 
men and completely familiar with the management of the successful English company ; 
but they were subjects of Great Britain, their interests and instincts were British, and 
in forming an American settlement none but Americans should have been placed in 
command. Washington's injunction to "put none but Americans on guard," should 
have been borne in mind. These men made no pretense of Americanizing themselves 
or transferring their allegiance ; on the contrary they took the precaution to provide 
themselves before leaving Canada with proofs of their British citizenship, to be used 
for their advantage in case of future difficulties between the two nations. These were 
Alexander McKay, who had accompanied Mackenzie on both of his journeys, Duncan 
McDougal, David and Robert Stuart, and Donald McKenzie. Wilson Price Hunt, of 
New Jersey, the only American at first interested as a partner, was given the chief 
direction of the enterprise on the Pacific coast. Mr. Astor owned a half interest in 
the enterprise and furnished the capital, while the other half was divided among the 
four partners, who managed the details of the work in the field. These gentlemen in- 
corporated as the Pacific Fur Company, with Mr. Astor as president. 

On the second of August, 1810, the ship Tonquin sailed for the mouth of the 
Columbia. She carried ten guns, had a crew of twenty men and was under the com- 
mand of Jonathan Thorn, a lieutenant of the United States navy, on leave of absence. 
She carried a large cargo of supplies and merchandize for trading with the natives, 
the frame of a small schooner designed for use along the coast, and seeds and imple- 
ments for the cultivation of the soil. In the Tonquin sailed four of the partners, 
McKay, McDougal, David Stuart and Robert Stuart, twelve clerks, several artisans 
and thirteen Canadian voyageurs. 

The voyageurs were a special outgrowth of the fur trade and are deserving of 
more than a passing notice. Irving thus describes them: "The voyageurs may be said 
to have sprung up out of the fur trade, having originally been employed by the early 
French merchants in their trading expeditions through the labyrinth of rivers and 
lakes of the boundless interior. In the intervals of their long, arduous, and laborious 
expeditions they were wont to pass their time in idleness and revelry about the trading 
posts or settlements ; squandering their hard earnings in heedless conviviality, and ri- 
valling their neighbors, the Indians, in indolent indulgence and an imprudent disre- 
gard of the morrow. When Canada j^assed under British domination, and the old 
French trading houses .were broken up, the voyageurs were for a time disheartened and 
disconsolate, and with difficulty could reconcile themselves to theserviceof the newcomers, 
so different in habits, manners and language from their former employers. By degrees, 
however, they became accustomed to the change, and at length came to consider the 
British fur traders, and especially the members of the Northwest Company, as the le- 
gitimate lords of creation. The dress of these people is generally half civilized, 
half savage. They wear a capot or surcoat, made of a blanket, a striped cotton shirt, 
cloth trowsers, or leathern leggings, moccasins of deer skin, and a belt of variegated 
worsted, from which are suspended the knife, tobacco pouch, and other implements. . 



96 OREGON. 

Their language is of the same piebald character, being a French patois, embroidered 
with Indian and English words and phrases. The lives of the voyageurs are passed 
in wild and extensive rovings. They are generally of French descent and inherit 
much of the gaiety and lightness of heart of their ancestors, being full of anecdote 
and song, and ever ready for the dance. Their natural good will is probably height- 
ened by a community of adventure and hardship in their precarious and wandering- 
life. They are dexterous boatmen, vigorous and adroit with the oar and paddle, and 
will row from morning until night without a murmur. The steersman often sings an 
old traditionary French song, with some regular burden in which they all join, keep- 
ing time with their oars. In the course of years they will gradually disappear; their 
songs will die away like the echoes they once awakened, and the Canadian voyageurs 
will become a forgotten race, or remembered among the poetical images of past times 
and as themes for local and romantic associations." 

The Tonquin reached the mouth of the Columbia on the twenty-second of March, 
1811, much jealousy and ill-feeling having been engendered during the voyage be- 
tween the commander and the Scotch partners. Captain Thorn was a martinet, a 
strict disciplinarian, with a high opinion of the power and dignity of the commander 
of a vessel. He was headstrong and stubborn in the extreme. When the ship arrived 
at the river the bar was very rough, and the captain feared to enter until the location 
of the channel was ascertained. He ordered Mr. Fox, the chief mate, to take one 
seaman and three Canadians in a whale boat and explore the channel, and though the 
mate protested that it was certain death to attempt it, he insisted upon obedience to his 
orders. The boat left the ship and was soon swallowed up in the angry billows. The 
next day he sent out another crew to seek the channel, and their boat was swept out to 
sea by the tide and current, only one of the crew finally reaching land. The vessel 
succeeded in getting just inside of the bar when darkness came on and she was com- 
pelled to cast anchor for the night, while the ebbing tide threatened to sweep her from 
her precarious hold upon the sand and swamp her amid the breakers. Irving says : 
" The wind whistled, the sea roared, the gloom was only broken by the ghastly glare 
of the foaming breakers, the minds of the seamen were full of dreary apprehensions, 
and some of them fancied they heard the cries of their lost comrades mingling with 
the uproar of the elements." 

In the morning the Tonquin passed safely into the river and came to anchor in a 
secure harbor. On the twelfth of April, a point on the south side of the river which 
Broughton had called Point George having been selected, the erection of a fort and 
buildings was begun ; and on that spot, which was then christened Astoria in honor of 
the projector of the enterprise, now stands one of the most important commercial and 
manufacturing cities of the Pacific coast. After much delay in preparing a place for 
the reception of the goods and in landing those to be left at Astoria, during which the 
captain and partners constantly wrangled about their authority, and before the fort 
was completed, the Tonquin sailed, on the fifth of June, to engage in trade with the na- 
tives along the northern coast, and eventually to reach the Russian settlements in 
Alaska, with the hope of opening a friendly communication with them. 

The Tonquin anchored in a small harbor on Vancouver island, and Alexander 
McKay, one of the partners, landed upon the island. During his absence the vessel 



ifff-ifr 







;-*PPS 



OREGON. 97 

was surrounded by a host of savage.-! in their canoes, who soon swarmed upon the decks . 
They were eager to trade, but had evidently had considerable experience in dealing 
with the whites and were well posted upon the value of their furs, for they resolutely 
demanded a higher price than Captain Thorn was willing to pay. Provoked beyond 
measure at their stubbornness, Thorn refused to deal with them, whereupon they be- 
came exceedingly insolent. The captain at last completely tost his temper, and seizing 
the old chief, Nookamis, who was following him about and taunting him with his 
stinginess, rubbed in his face an otter skin he had been endeavoring to sell. He then 
ordered the whole band to leave the ship and added blows to enforce his command. 
The tragic ending of this adventure is thus related by Irving : 

" When Mr. M'Kay returned on board, the interpreter related what had passed, 
and begged him to prevail upon the captain to make sail, as, from his knowledge of 
the temper and pride of the people of the i;>lace, he was sure they would resent the 
indignity offered to one of their chiefs. Mr. M'Kay, who himself possessed some ex- 
perience of Indian character, went to the captain, who was still pacing the deck in 
moody humor, represented the danger to which his hasty act had exposed the vessel, 
and urged upon him to weigh anchor The captain made light of his councils, and 
pointed to his cannon and fire-arms as a sufficient safe-guard against naked savages. 
Further remonstrances only provoked taunting replies and sharp altercations. The 
day passed away without any signs of hostility, and at night the captain retired, as 
usual, to his cabin, taking no more than the usual precautions. On the following 
morning, at day-break, while the captain and Mr. M'Kay were yet asleep, a canoe came 
alongside in which were twenty Indians, commanded by young Shewish. They were 
unarmed, their asj)ect and demeanor friendly, and they held up otter skins, and made 
signs indicative of a wish to trade. The caution enjoined by Mr. Astor in respect to 
the admission of Indians on board of the ship, had been neglected for some time past, 
and the officer of the watch, perceiving those in the canoes to be without weapons, and 
having received no orders to the contrary, readily permitted them to mount the deck. 
Another canoe soon succeeded, the crew of which was likewise admitted. In a little 
while other canoes came off, and Indians were soon clambering into the vessel on all 
sides. 

" The officer of the watch now felt alarmed, and called to Captain Thorn and Mr. 
M'Kay. By the time they came on deck, it was thronged with Indians. The inter- 
preter noticed to Mr. M'Kay that many of the natives wore short mantles of skins, 
and intimated a suspicion that they were secretly armed. Mr. M'Kay urged the cap- 
tain to clear the ship and get under way. He again made light of the advice ; but 
the augmented swarm of canoes about the ship, and the numbers still putting off from 
shore, at length awakened his distrust, and he ordered some of the crew to weigh an- 
chor, while some were sent aloft to make sail. The Indians now offered to trade with 
the captain on his own terms, prompted, apparently, by the approaching departure of 
the ship. Accordingly, a hurried trade was commenced. The main articles sought 
by the savages in barter, were knives ; as fast as some were supplied they moved off 
and others succeeded. By degrees they were thus distributed about the deck, and all 
with weapons. The anchor was now nearly up, the sails were loose, and the captain, 
in a loud and perernptorv tone, ordered the ship to be cleared. In an instant a signal 

13 



98 OREGON. 

yell was given ; it was echoed on every side, knives and war clubs were brandished in 
every direction, and the savages rushed upon their marked victims. 

" The first that fell was Mr. Lewis, the ship's clerk. He was leaning, with folded 
arms, over a bale of blankets, engaged in bargaining, when he received a deadly stab 
in the back, and fell down the companionway. Mr. M'Kay, who Avas seated on the 
taffrail, sprang to his feet, but was instantly knocked down with a war-club and flung 
backwards into the sea, where he was dispatched by the women in the canoes. In the 
meantime, Captain Thorn made desperate fight against fearful odds. He was a pow- 
erful as well as resolute man, but he had come upon deck without weapons. Shewish, 
the young chief, singled him out as his peculiar prey, and rushed upon him at the first 
outbreak. The captain had barely time to draw a clasp-knife, with one blow of which 
he laid the young savage dead at his feet. Several of the stoutest followers of Shewish 
now set upon him. He defended himself vigorously, dealing cripjfling blows to right 
and left, and strewing the quarterdeck with the slain and wounded. His object was 
to fight his way to the cabin, where there were fire-arms ; but he w r as hemmed in with 
foes, covered with wounds, and faint with loss of blood. For an instant he leaned upon 
the tiller wheel, when a blow from behind, with a war-club, felled him to the deck, 
where he was dispatched with knives and thrown overboard. 

" While this was transacting upon the quarterdeck, a chance medley fight was 
going on throughout the ship. The crew fought desperately with knives, handspikes 
and whatever weapons they could seize upon in the moment of surprise. They were 
soon, however, overpowered by numbers and mercilessly butchered. As to the seven 
who had been sent aloft to make sail, they contemplated with horror the carnage that 
was going on below. Being destitute of weapons, they let themselves down by the 
running rigging, in hopes of getting between decks. One fell in the attempt, and was 
instantly dispatched ; another received a death-blow in the back as he was descending; 
a third, Stephen Weekes, the armorer, was mortally wounded as he was getting down 
the hatchway. The remaining four made good their retreat into the cabin, where they 
found Mr. Lewis still alive, though mortally wounded. Barricading the cabin door, 
they broke holes through the companionway, and, with muskets and ammunition which 
were at hand, opened a brisk fire that soon cleared the deck. Thus far the Indian 
interpreter, from whom these particulars are derived, had been an eye-witness of the 
deadly conflict. He had taken no part in it and had been spared by the natives as 
being of their race. In the confusion of the moment he took refuge with the rest, in 
the canoes. The survivors of the crew now sallied forth and discharged some of 
the deck guns, which did great execution among the canoes and drove all the savages 
to shore. 

"For the remainder of the day no one ventured to put off to the ship, deterred by 
the effects of the firearms. The night passed away without any further attempt on 
the part of the natives. When the day dawned the Tonquin still lay at anchor in the 
bay, her sails all loose and flapping in the wind, and no one apparently on board of 
her. After a time, some of the canoes ventured forth to reconnoitre, taking with them 
the interpreter. They paddled about her, keeping cautiously at a distance, but grow- 
ing more and more emboldened at seeing her quiet and lifeless. One man at length 
made his appearance on the deck and was recognized by the interpreter as Mr. Lewis. 



OREGON. 99 

He made friendly signs and invited them on board. It was long before they ventured 
to comply. Those who mounted the deck met with no opposition ; no one was to be 
seen on board, for Mr. Lewis, after inviting them, had disappeared. Other canoes now 
pressed forward to board the prize ; the decks were soon crowded and the sides cov- 
ered with clambering savages, all intent on plunder. In the midst of their eagerness 
and exultation, the ship blew up with a tremendous explosion. Arms, legs and muti- 
lated bodies were blown into the air, and dreadful havoc was made in the surrounding 
canoes. The interpreter was in the main chains at the time of the explosion, and was 
thrown unhurt into the water, where he succeeded in getting into one of the canoes. 
According to his statement the bay presented an awful spectacle after the catastrophe. 
The ship had disappeared, but the bay was covered with fragments of the wreck, with 
shattered canoes, and Indians swimming for their lives or struggling in the agonies of 
death ; while those who had escaped the danger remained aghast and stupefied, or made 
with frantic panic for the shore. Upwards of a hundred savages were destroyed by the 
explosion, many more were shockingly mutilated, and for days afterwards the limbs 
and bodies of the slain were thrown upon the beach. 

"The inhabitants of Xeweetee were overwhelmed with consternation at this as- 
tounding calamity which had burst upon them in the very moment of triumph. The 
warriors sat mute and mournful, while the women filled the air with loud lamentations. 
Their weeping and wailing, however, was suddenly changed into yells of fury at the 
sight of four unfortunate white men brought captive into the village. They had been 
driven on shore in one of the ship's boats, and taken at some distance along the coast. 
The interpreter was permitted to converse with them. They proved to be the four 
brave fellows who had made such desperate defense from the cabin. The interpreter 
gathered from them some of the particulars already related. They told him further 
that, after they had beaten off the enemy, and cleared the ship, Lewis advised that 
they should slip the cable and endeavor to get to sea. They declined to take his advice, 
alleging that the wind set too strongly into the bay, and would drive them on shore. 
They resolved, as soon as it was dark, to put off quietly in the ship's boat, which they 
would be able to do unperceived, and to coast along back to Astoria. They put their 
resolution into effect ; but Lewis refused to accompany them, being disabled by his 
wound, hopeless of escape and determined on a terrible revenge. On the voyage out 
he had frequently expressed a presentiment that he should die by his own hands — 
thinking it highly probable that he should be engaged in some contests with the na- 
tives, and being resolved, in case of extremity, to commit suicide rather than be made 
a prisoner. He now declared his intention to remain on the ship until daylight, to de- 
coy as many of the savages on board as possible, then to set fire to the powder maga- 
zine and terminate his life by a signal act of vengeance. How well he succeeded has 
been shown. His companions bade him a melancholy adieu and set off on their pre- 
carious expedition. They strove with might and main to get out of the bay, but found 
it impossible to weather a point of land, and were at length compelled to take shelter 
in a small cove, where they hoped to remain concealed until the wind should be more 
favorable. Exhausted by fatigue and watching, they fell into a sound sleep, and in 
that state were surprised by the savages. Better had it been for those unfortunate men 
had they remained with Lewis and shared his heroic death ; as it was, they perished in 



100 OREGON. 

a more painful and protracted manner, being sacrificed by the natives to the manes of 
their friends with all the lingering tortures of savage cruelty. Some time after their 
death the interpreter, who had remained a kind of prisoner at large, effected his escape 
and brought the tragical tidings to Astoria." 

Meanwhile affairs were progressing at Astoria. On the fifteenth of July the 
partners were astonished by the appearance in the river of a canoe manned by nine 
white men, who proved to be representatives of the Northwest Company, under the 
leadership of David Thompson, a partner in that powerful organization. When the 
company had learned the year before of the projected enterprise of Mr. Astor, it dis- 
patched Mr. Thompson from Montreal with a large party to hasten across the conti- 
nent and forestall the American trader by taking possession of the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia. Many of his party had deserted him, and now after ruinous delay and with 
but these few faithful ones to aid him, he had arrived at the goal of his journey too 
late to accomplish his purpose. Thompson was received with great cordiality by Mr. 
McDougal, the partner in charge at Astoria, who had a kindly feeling for all represen- 
tatives of the Northwest Company ; and though he was but a spy upon his hosts, he 
was bountifully supplied with provisions for his return journey. He set out upon his 
return to Montreal on the twenty-third day of July, bearing a letter to Mr. Astor tell- 
ing of the safe arrival of the vessel, and accompanied by a party of nine, headed by 
David Stuart, who were instructed to establish a post on the uj)per Columbia. Mr. 
Stuart selected a spot near the mouth of the Okinagan river, and establishing a post 
there opened trade with the natives. 

On the second of October the schooner was completed and launched. She was 
named the Dolly, and was the third vessel built on the Northern Pacific coast, and the first 
in the Columbia river. A few days later half of Stuart's party returned, having been 
sent back for the winter because of a lack of provisions to subsist them. The winter 
months were jDassed without fresh disasters flowing in uj)on them. 

When the Tonquin sailed from New York Wilson P. Hunt was preparing to cross 
overland with another party. He finally left St. Louis with a party of sixty men, 
among whom were Donald McKenzie and three other partners, Ramsey Crooks, Joseph 
Miller and Robert McLellan. With them went John Day, a noted Kentucky hunter, 
and Pierre Dorion, a French half-breed, to act as an interpreter. The party arrived at 
Fort Henry, on Snake river, October 8, 1811. Small detachments were, from time to 
time, sent out in the Rocky mountains to trap in various localities, who were to use 
Fort Henry as a supply station, and for concentration with their furs. The remaining 
members of the party, after a temporary halt, moved on down Snake river enroute for 
the general rendezvous at the mouth of the Columbia; and a continued succession of 
hardships and disaster seemed to follow them. First, the unfortunate Antoine Clappin 
was drowned in passing a rapid, then famine came to rob them of human instincts, as 
they were led to the verge of starvation. They were finally forced to separate into 
small detachments, one party going under Ramsey Crooks, another with Donald Mc- 
Kenzie for leader, while a third remained with Mr. Hunt, hoping by such division to 
increase their chances of finally reaching the Columbia, 

Once the parties under Crooks and Hunt camped with the narrow, deep waters of 
Snake river only separating them. The Hunt party had killed a horse and Avere 



-& 




/^Ur^ J?, ^^^^^ 



OREGON. 101 

cooking it, while their starving companions on the opposite side of the stream, with no 
means of crossing it, were forced to look on as they starved. Not a man in Mr. Hunt's 
camp would make an effort to send them food, until the arrival of Mr. Crooks, who, 
discovering the condition of his men on the opposite side, called to the forlorn band to 
start fires for cooking, that no time might be lost while he constructed a canoe out of 
skins, in which to take meat across to them. In vain he tried to shame the more for- 
tunate into helping to succor their famishing companions, but : " A vague, and almost 
superstitious terror," says Irving, " had infected the minds of Mr. Hunt's followers, 
enfeebled and rendered imaginative of horrors by the dismal scenes and sufferings 
through which they had passed. They regarded the haggard crew, hovering like 
spectres of famine on the opposite bank, with indefinite feelings of awe and apprehen- 
sion, as if something desperate and dangerous was to be feared from them." 

When the canoe was finished, Mr. Crooks attempted to navigate the impetuous 
stream with it, but found his strength unequal to the task, and failing to reach his 
companions on the opposite bank, made another appeal to Hunt's men. Finally, a 
Kentuckian, named Ben Jones, undertook and made the passage, conveying meat to 
them, and then came back. Irving, in describing the sad scene, says : " A poor Cana- 
dian, however, named Jean Baptiste Prevost, whom famine had rendered wild and 
desperate, ran frantically about the banks, after Jones had returned, crying out to Mr. 
Hunt to send the canoe for him, and take him from that horrible region of famine, de- 
claring that otherwise he would never march another step, but would lie down there 
and die. The canoe was shortly sent over again, under the management of Joseph 
Delaunay, with further supplies. Prevost immediately pressed forward to embark. 
Delaunay refused to admit him, telling him that there was now a sufficient supply of 
meat on his side of the river. He replied that it was not cooked, and he should starve 
before it was ready ; he implored, therefore, to be taken where he could get something 
to appease his hunger immediately. Finding the canoe putting off without him, he 
forced himself aboard. As he drew near the opposite shore, and beheld meat roasting 
before the fires, he jumped up, shouted, clapped his hands, and danced in a delirium 
of joy, until he upset the canoe. The poor wretch was swept away by the current and 
drowned, and it was with extreme difficulty that Delaunay reached the shore. Mr. 
Hunt now sent all his men forward excepting two or three. In the evening, he caused 
another horse to be killed, and a canoe to be made out of the skin, in which he sent 
over a further supply of meat to the opposite party. The canoe brought back John 
Day, the Kentucky hunter, who came to join his former commander and employer, 
Mr. Crooks. Poor Day, once so active and vigorous, was now reduced to a condition 
even more feeble and emaciated than his companions. Mr. Crooks had such a value 
for the man, on account of his past services and faithful character, that he determined 
not to quit him ; he exhorted Mr. Hunt, however, to proceed forward and join the 
party, as his presence was all important to the conduct of the expedition. One of the 
Canadians, Jean Baptiste Dubreuil, likewise remained with Mr. Crooks." 

The occurrences at this starvation camp were on the twentieth of December, 1811, 
both parties being on their way back up Snake river after having found the descent of 
that stream impossible. It was now their intention to strike across the country for the 
Columbia, as soon as it was practicable to do so. On the twenty-third of December, 



102 



OREGON. 



Mr. Hunt's followers crossed to the west side of the stream, where they were joined by 
Crooks' men, who were already there. The two parties, when united, numbered thirty- 
six souls, and on the next day they turned from the river into a trackless country; but, 
before starting, three more of their number had concluded to remain among the sav- 
ages rather than face the hardships and trials that lay before them. December 28, 
1811, the head waters of Grand Ronde river were reached, and the last day of that 
year found them camped in the valley of that name. Through all their perils and 
wanderings since leaving St. Louis, one woman, the Indian wife of Pierre Dorion, a 
guide, interpreter and trapper, had accompanied them, bringing with her two children, 
and, as the party entered the Grand Ronde valley, she gave birth to another. The 
next day she continued the journey on horseback as though nothing had happened, 
but the little stranger only lived six days. 

Mr. Hunt, after halting one or two days to enable his followers to celebrate, in 
their forlorn way, the advent of a new year that had presented to them the Grand 
Ronde valley, a kind of winter paradise in the mountains, continued his course to the 
west. The Blue mountain ridge was passed, and January 8, 1812, an Indian village 
on the Umatilla river close to the mountains was reached, where they were hospitably 
received. From there their route was down this stream to the Columbia river, thence 
to the mouth of the latter, arriving at Astoria February 15, 1812. 

Since leaving Fort Henry, October 19, 1811, out of Mr. Hunt's party, two men 
had been drowned on Snake river, and poor Michael Carriere, when exhausted, had 
straggled behind in Grand Ronde valley and was never heard from afterwards. Ram- 
sey Crooks, John Day and four Canadian voyageurs, had been left half dead on Snake 
river to remain in the Indian country, die, or reach the Columbia as they best could. 
Eleven men, among whom were Donald McKenzie, Robert McLellan and the unfortu- 
nate John Reed, had been detached on Snake river, and following that stream until its 
waters mingled with the Columbia, had reached Astoria a month in advance of Mr. 
Hunt. Mr. Stuart, when returning from his post on the Okinagan, during the first 
days of April, found Mr. Crooks and John Day on the banks of the Columbia river 
without weapons, nearly starved, and as naked as when born, having been robbed and 
stripped by the Dalles Indians. They had wintered in the Blue mountains about 
Grand Ronde valley, and had reached the Walla Wallas in the spring, who had fed, 
succored, and sent them on their way rejoicing down the river. When found, they 
were making their way back to these early friends of the Americans, who never failed 
to assist our people when in trouble. At length all but three of those starting from 
the head waters of Snake river for Astoria had reached that place except the four 
voyageurs, and later they, too, were found by a return party. On the ninth of May, 
after Mr. Hunt's arrival, the ship Beaver, with reinforcements and supplies, anchored 
at Astoria, and the Pacific Fur Company was in condition to enter upon a vigorous fur 
gathering campaign. 

Mr. Hunt, who was at the head of affairs, set out in July for Alaska to fulfill the 
mission upon which the ill-fated Tonquin had sailed, and his departure left Duncan 
McDougal in charge. Prior to this, however, the various expeditions to trap waters 
and trade with natives between the Rocky and Cascade mountains had started, sixty- 
two strong, up the Columbia. Among the number was the unfortunate John Day, 



OKEGON. 103 

and, as the party approached the scenes of his former sufferings his mind became 
delirious, and the mere sight of an Indian would throw him into a frenzy of passion. 
He finally attempted his own life, but was prevented from taking it, after which a con- 
stant guard was kept over him. It was at length determined to send him back to 
Astoria, and being placed in charge of two Indians, he was delivered by them at the 
fort where he died in less than a year. His old compeers and staunch friends, who 
had shared perils and privations with him, were forced to continue their journey with 
a sad memory of this companion, whose brain had been shattered by his many mis- 
fortunes. The stream which had witnessed his many sufferings still bears the heroic 
trapper's name. 

The arrival of trappers at the present site of Wallula, on the twenty-eighth of 
July, 1812, was the signal for general rejoicing among the friendly Walla W alias, who 
greeted them with bonfires, and a night dance, in which they sang the praises of 
their white friends. Here the four expeditions were to separate, Robert Stuart to 
cross the continent by Hunt's route ; David Stuart to go up the Columbia to Okina- 
gan ; Donald McKenzie to establish a post in the Nez Perce country ; and John Clarke 
to locate one among the Spokane Indians. Of these several expeditions, Robert Stuart, 
with his party, including Crooks and McLellan, reached St. Louis eleven months later, 
bearing news to Mr. Astor of his enterprise on the Pacific coast. McKenzie's opera- 
tions were a failure ; David Stuart's success was equal to his most sanguine hopes, and 
Mr. Clarke's efforts resulted second only to those of Mr. Stuart. 

On the twenty-fifth of May, 1813, Mr. Clarke started from his post on the Spo- 
kane to reach the Walla Walla, the place agreed upon as a general rendezvous, where 
the different expeditions were to meet and return to Astoria with the furs obtained in 
their operations during the past season. On his way up, Mr. Clarke had left his 
canoes in charge of a Palouse chief, living at the mouth of the river of that name, 
with whom he found them on his return. He had twenty-eight horse packs of furs, 
and all his men were in high spirits because of the success that had attended their 
year's work. While stopping at the mouth of this stream to repair their canoes, in 
which to embark upon the river, an incident happened that cannot well be passed in 
silence. 

Mr. Clarke was a strong disciplinarian, something of an aristocrat, and disposed to 
inpresss those with whom he came in contact with the dignity of his presence and per- 
son. He was in the habit of carrying a silver goblet to drink from, and its glittering 
presence, carefully guarded by its possessor, became an object of strange and strong 
attraction to the superstitious Indians. In all their land, no such wondrous device had 
been seen before. They talked to each other concerning it, watched its appearance, 
and the care with which its lucky possessor laid it away after using. Possibly it was a 
great medicine, like the spotted shirt and the white quilt among the Cceur d'Alenes, or 
a powerful talisman to ward off danger or shield its owner from harm, a sort of ark 
near which the great Manitou dwelt. One night it disappeared, and Mr. Clarke was 
enraged. He threatened to hang the first Indian detected in stealing, and the next 
night an unfortunate one was caught in the act. A hasty trial followed, and the 
prisoner was condemned to die, when Mr. Clarke made the assembled savages a speech. 
He recounted the numerous gifts that had been bestowed, the benefit the white man's 



104 OREGON. 

presence had been to their people, and then, upbraiding them for thefts, told the 
Indians that he should kill the thief he had captured with pilfered goods. The old 
chief and his followers besought him to not do this. They were willing that he should 
be punished severely, and then let go, but the trapj>er was inexorable, and the poor 
groveling wretch was dragged to a temporary scaffold, constructed from oars, and was 
launched into eternity. The other partners of the Pacific Fur Company were unanimous 
in condemning this act, and Gabriel Franchere, who was one of the company clerks, 
wrote concerning the killing of the unfortunate John Reed and his party by Indians 
the ensuing winter : " We had no doubt that his massacre was an act of vengeance, 
on the part of the natives, in retaliation for the death of one of their people, whom Mr. 
John Clarke had hanged for theft the spring before." Immediately after this hanging 
the party embarked for the mouth of the Walla Walla, where Stuart and McKenzie 
were waiting, and from this point they all continued their way down the river, arriving 
at Astoria, June 12, 1813. 

Upon re-assembling at headquarters, the return expeditions found that, upon the 
whole, it had been a successful year's labor, that the peltry brought in, amounting to 
157 packs, if sold at market rates in Canton, would pay well for the time spent, and 
reimburse them for local losses. In addition to this, they had become well established 
in the fur producing regions, and the outlook was very encouraging except for one 
thing. War had been raging between Great Britain and the United States for over a 
year, and they had recently become aware of this fact. 

On their arrival at Astoria, J. G. McTavish with nineteen men was found camped 
near by, awaiting the appearance of a vessel called the Isaac Todd, sent by the North- 
west Company with stores for them, with letters of marque, and instructions from the 
British government to destroy everything American found on the Pacific coast. This 
latter fact was unknown at Astoria at the time, however, but the non-arrival of sivpplies 
by sea, combined with the unfavorable news of British success in arms, led the partners 
to fear that none whatever would reach them. They, consequently, determined to 
abandon the country, and start on their return overland the ensuing year, if their mis- 
givings proved well founded. They sold their Spokane fort to McTavish for $848, 
and then furnished that gentleman with provisions to enable him to return to the 
upper country ; and, in July, they visited the interior themselves to gather what furs 
they could before taking final leave of the country. 

Three months later, McTavish returned to Astoria with a force of seventy-five men 
for the purpose of meeting the vessel that had caused his former visit, bringing, also, 
the news that her coining to the Columbia was for the purpose of capturing Astoria, 
and to assist the Northwest Company in gaining ascendancy on the coast, He offered 
to buy the furs of the Astorians, and, on the sixteenth of October, 1813, a transfer of 
the entire stock, worth at least $100,000, was made for less than $40,000. Two months 
later, on December 12, the fort was surrendered to the English under command of a 
naval officer, Captain Black of the Raccoon, when the American flag was lowered to 
give the British colors place, and the name of Astoria was changed to Fort George. An 
amusing incident of this transfer is related by John Ross Cox. " The Indians, at the 
mouth of the Columbia, knew well* that Great Britain and America were distinct nations, 
and that they were then at war, but were ignorant of the arrangement made between 



OREGON. 105 

Messrs. McDougal and McTavish, the former of whom still continued as nominal chief 
at the fort. On the arrival of the Raccoon, which they quickly discovered to be one of 
' King George's fighting ships,' they repaired, armed, to the fort, and requested an 
audience of Mr. McDougal. He was somewhat surprised at their numbers and war- 
like appearance, and demanded the object of such an unusual visit. Concomly, the 
principal chief of the Chinooks, (whose daughter McDougal had married,) thereupon 
addressed him in a long speech, in the course of which he said that King George had 
sent a ship full of warriors, and loaded with nothing but big guns, to take the Ameri- 
cans and make them all slaves, and that, as they (the Americans) were the first white 
men who settled in their country, and treated the Indians like good relations, they had 
resolved to defend them from King George's warriors, and were now ready to conceal 
themselves in the woods close to the wharf, from whence they would be able, with their 
guns and arrows, to shoot all the men that should attempt to land from the English 
boats, while the people in the fort could fire at them with their big guns and rifles. 
This proposition was uttered with an earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt of 
its sincerity. Two armed boats from the Raccoon were approaching ; and, had the 
people in the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes of the Indians, every man in 
them would have been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougal thanked them 
for their friendly offer, but added, that, notwithstanding the nations were at war, the 
people in the boats would not injure him or any of his people, and therefore requested 
them to throw by their war shirts and arms, and receive the strangers as their friends. 
They at first seemed astonished at this answer ; but, on assuring them, in the most pos- 
itive manner, that he was under no apprehension, they consented to give up their 
weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they were sorry for having complied 
with Mr. McDougal's wishes ; for when they observed Captain Black, surrounded by 
his officers and marines, break the bottle of port on the flag-staff, and hoist the British 
ensign, after changing the name of the fort, they remarked that however he might wish 
to conceal the fact, the Americans were undoubtedly made slaves." 

Seventy-eight days after the surrender of Astoria to the British, Mr. Hunt 
arrived at that fort in the brig Pedlar, and judge of his astonishment, to learn that 
McDougal was a partner no longer of the Pacific, but of the Northwest Company ; 
that he held possession not under the American, but under the English flag ; and that 
all in which Mr. Hunt was. interested on this coast had passed, without a struggle, 
through treachery, into the hands of his country's enemies. Mr. Hunt, finally, secured 
the papers pertaining to business transactions of the Pacific Fur Conrpany from Mc- 
Dougal, and then sailed, April 3, 1814, from the shore that had seemed to yield only 
misfortune and disaster in return for the efforts of himself, and those with whom he 
was associated. The next day, David Stuart, McKenzie, John Clarke and eighty-five 
other members and employes of the Pacific Fur Company started up the Columbia 
river in their boats on their way across the continent, and while passing Wallula, 
learned from the widow of Pierre Dorion, of the massacre of John Reed and his eight 
associates, among the Snake Indians near Fort Henry. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



JOINT OCCUPATION OF OREGON. 

The Russian Settlements— They Establish Themselves at Bodega Bay — Treaty of Ghent — Restoration to the 
United States of Astoria, or Fort George — Treaty of Joint Occupancy in 1818— The Florida Treaty of 
1819— Fierce Rivalry between the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies — The War on Red River — Consoli- 
dation of the Rival Companies— Description of the Hudson's Bay Company. 

During the years that had elapsed since the Russian American Trading Com- 
pany was chartered, that organization had become exceedingly powerful, establishing 
many posts on the Alaskan coast and carrying on the fur trade in a systematic and 
successful manner. In 1799 a settlement was made on King George III. archipelago 
near Mount Edgecumb, near the 56th j>arallel. This was destroyed by the natives in 
1803, and was rebuilt in 1805, and was then called New Archangel of Sitka. This 
became the capital of Russian America and so remained until Alaska was purchased 
by the United States. This was the most southerly settlement at that time, but in 
1806 preparations were made to occupy the mouth of the Columbia, which was con- 
sidered by the company to be embraced within the limits of the country over which 
their monopoly charter from the czar extended. The execution of this project was 
deferred for a time, and, as we have seen, was in a few years rendered impossible 
because of prior possession of the Americans and English. In 1812 the governor of 
the company, whose headquarters were at Sitka, requested and received permission of 
the Spanish governor of California to leave a few men on the shore of Bodega bay, a 
few miles north of Yerba Buena (San Francisco) for the purpose of preparing meat 
and supplies for their posts in the north. In a few years this little station had become 
a fortified settlement, and the governor's request and peremptory order to vacate were 
treated with contempt ; nor were they ever driven from their post, but abandoned it in 
1840 at the request of the United States government. During the years of their 
occupancy many voyages of trade and exploration were made, some of them at the 
expense of much suffering and many lives, adding materially to the geographical 
knowledge of the upper portion of the Pacific and the Arctic ocean above Siberia and 
about Behring's strait. 

The treaty of Ghent, which ended the war of 1812, provided that " all territory, 
places, and possessions, whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the 
war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, shall be restored without 
delay." It failed, however, because the commissioners could not agree, to define a 
dividing line between the American territory of Louisiana and the possessions of the 
British, west of the Lake of the Woods. In pursuance of this treaty, Mr. Astor, who 
was eager to recover possession of Astoria and resume his trading operations in the 
Pacific, applied to the president for restitution of his property. The minister of Great 



OREGON. 107 

Britain at Washington was accordingly notified in July, 1815, that the United States 
would at once reoccupy the captured fort at the mouth of the Columbia ; but no ap- 
parent notice was taken of this by the English government. It was not until Septem- 
ber, 1817, that actual steps were taken to carry into effect this resolution, and then the 
sloop of war Ontario was dispatched on this errand, the captain, J. Biddle, and J. B 
Prevost, his associate commissioner, being instructed to assert the claim of the United 
States to the sovereignty of the country adjacent to the Columbia, but to do so in a 
friendly and peaceable manner. 

Soon after the departure of the Ontario the representative of Great Britain offi- 
cially inquired of Secretary Adams the destination and object of the vessel, and was 
informed that it was directed to take possession of the post at the mouth of the Colum- 
bia, which, since no attention had been paid to the notification of two years before, it 
had been assumed Great Britain had no idea of claiming as rightfully hers. This was 
answered by saying that the post had been purchased by the Northwest Company, 
subjects of his majesty, from private individuals, and as it was situated in a region 
which that company had long occupied it was considered as forming a portion of his 
majesty's dominions. Much controversy was carried on between the two governments 
on the questions of abstract right and actual possession. It was finally agreed that the 
post should be restored to the United States but its property should still belong to its 
purchasers, while the right of dominion over the country should be left for future nego- 
tiation. The Ontario arrived at Valparaiso in February, 1818, where Mr. Prevost 
landed to transact official business w T ith the Chilean government. Captain Biddle con- 
tinued to the Columbia, sailing into that stream in the month of August and taking 
formal possession of the surrounding country in the name of the United States. He 
then departed for other portions of the Pacific. In the meantime Captain Sheriff, of 
the English navy, having orders to deliver up Fort George, met Mr. Prevost in Chili 
and offered him passage to the Columbia for that purpose in the frigate Blossom. 
They entered the river early in October, when Mr. Keith, the gentleman in charge 
surrendered possession, having been instructed to that effect by the officers of the com- 
pany. A paper was given to Mr. Prevost setting forth the fact that, in pursuance of 
orders from the government, Fort George, on the Columbia river, was surrendered to 
him as the representative of the United States, and he in return gave the officers a 
written acceptance of the transfer. The British flag was then lowered and the Amer- 
ican ensign was temporarily displayed over the walls of Fort George, while it was 
courteously saluted by the guns of the Blossom. Thus the matter stood, the Ameri- 
cans nominally and the British actually in possession of Oregon. 

During the time the Northwest Company had occupied this post many improve- 
ments had been made, so that the Fort George of 1818 was far different from the 
Astoria of five years before. A stockade of pine logs, twelve feet high above the 
ground, enclosed a parallelogram of 150x250 feet, within which were dwellings, store- 
houses, magazines, shops, etc., all defended by two eighteen-pounders, six six~pounders, 
four four-pound carronades, two six-pound cohorns, and seven swivels, armament 
sufficient for a strong fort in those days. The population consisted of twenty-three 
whites, twenty-six Kanakas and sixteen Canadian half-breeds. The company was not 
disturbed in the possession of this important post, and Mr. Astor was finally compelled 



108 OREGON. 

to abandon all hope of recovering liis property through the action of the government, 
and not deeming it advisable to found a rival establishment, was reluctantly compelled 
to abandon his projects in the Pacific altogether. 

Negotiations still continued between the two governments during these transac- 
tions of their agents, and on the twentieth of October, 1818, a treaty of compromise 
was signed, providing that all territories and their waters west of the Rocky mountains 
should be free and open to the vessels and to the use and occupation of the citizens 
and subjects of both nations for the period of ten years, and that no claim of either 
party should in any manner be prejudiced by this action, and that neither should gain 
any right of dominion by such use or occupation during the time specified. On the 
twenty-second of February, 1819, a treaty was concluded between the United States 
and Spain, generally known as the Florida treaty, by which Spain ceded to the 
United States her province of Florida and all her rights, claims and pretensions to 
any territories north and east of a line drawn from the source of the Arkansas north 
to the 42d parallel and thence west to the Pacific. The 42d parallel remained the 
boundary between the United States and Mexico until Texas, then California, and still 
later New Mexico and Arizona w r ere conquered or purchased by the former, and was 
considered the southern boundary of Oregon. 

Fierce rivalry had existed for many years between the Hudson's Bay Company 
and its energetic competitor. The despised rival had grown in wealth and power until 
the Northwest Company, though not protected by royal charter and not having vast terri- 
tories over which to exercise the right of dominion, had become an organization even 
more wealthy and powerful than the chartered monopoly. In the plenitude of its 
power it gave employment to 2,000 voyageurs, while its agents penetrated the wilder- 
ness in all directions in search of furs. The Hudson's Bay Conrpany had confined 
itself to its granted territory, and had not even explored that with enlightened energy, 
their method of conducting the business being to build a few posts at central points, to 
w r hich the Indians repaired for purposes of trade. On the contrary, it was the policy 
of the rival organization to send its agents far and wide, to trade with the natives and 
open up new fields of operation. This aggressive policy soon had the effect of arousing 
the old company to a realizing sense of the precarious condition of its affairs, and the 
necessity for taking energetic steps to recover the ground it was rapidly losing. The 
result of the rivalry, growing chiefly out of the improvident methods of the Northwest 
Company, was so alarming a decrease in the fur-bearing animals as to threaten their 
complete extinction. A systematic effort was made to crush the old company, or to at 
least drive its representatives from the most valuable beaver country, with the hope of 
finally compelling a surrender of its charter. 

The first act of actual hostility, other than mere trade rivalry, was committed in 
1806, when a trader of the Hudson's Bay Company was forcibly deprived of 480 packs 
of beaver skins, and a few months later of fifty more. The same year another trader 
was attacked and robbed of valuable furs by servants of the Northwest Company, and 
xeceived similar treatment again the following spring. These acts of plundering were 
numerous, and since no law but the law of might existed in the wilderness, there was 
no redress for the despoiled company nor punishment for the offenders, since the latter 
were Canadians and their victims citizens of England and not possessed of facilities 



WALLING. L/ZMi 

Portland.QR 




Philip Da Motta's Barber Shop. 
U.S. Signal Service Office, upstairs. 
Roseburg. 



OREGON. 109 

for securing redress in the courts of Canada. In twelve years but one case was brought 
to trial, in 180D, when a Hudson's Bay Company man was convicted of manslaughter 
for killing an agent of the other company who was making an attack upon him with a 
sword ; and this result was accomplished by the powerful influence of the Northwest 
Company in Montreal. 

In 1812, having received a grant of fertile land from the Hudson's Bay Company, 
Lord Selkirk, a man of energy and an enthusiast on the subject of colonial emigration, 
commenced a settlement on Red river near its junction with the Assiniboine, south of 
Lake Winnipeg. No sooner was this accomplished than the rival company expressed 
a determination to destroy the settlement, and in the autumn of 1814 fitted out an ex- 
pedition for that purpose at its chief establishment, Fort William, on the shore of Lake 
Superior. After harrassing the settlement for some months, an attack Avas made upon 
it in June, 1815, which was repulsed. Artillery having been brought up, the buildings 
of Fort Gibraltar, the strong hold of the settlement, were battered down and the place 
captured. The governor was sent to Montreal a prisoner, the remainder of the settlers 
were expelled from the country, the cattle were slaughtered and the buildings demol- 
ished. In the fall, however the colonists returned with a great accession to their num- 
bers and again established themselves under the leadership of Colin Robertson, being 
accompanied by Robert Semple, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company territories. 
In the spring of 1816, Alexander McDonnell, a partner of the Northwest Company 
collected a strong force with the design of crushing the settlement completely. After 
capturing the supply train on its way to Red river, the invading force came upon 
Governor Semple and a force of thirty men all of whom they killed, except one who 
was made a prisoner and four who escajDed. The settlers still remaining in the fort, 
seeing the hopelessness of resistance, surrendered, and to the number of 200 were sent 
in canoes to Hudson's bay. They were chiefly Scotch, as were also the attacking party; 
but the love of gain was stronger than the ties of blood. 

In 1821 parliament put an end to this bloody feud and ruinous competition by 
consolidating the rival companies under the name of The Honorable Hudson's Bay 
Company, by which was created an organization far more powerful than had either 
been before, and England gained a united and potent agent for the advancement of 
her interests in America. The settlements on the Red, Assiniboine and Saskatchewan 
rivers were renewed, and Winnipeg became in a few years the center of a prosperous 
community. The new company took j)ossession of Astoria and the posts along the 
Columbia, and as it thereafter became closely woven into the history of this region, a 
brief description of its founding, growth and methods becomes necessary to a full 
understanding of subsequent events. Dr. William Barrows gives the following descrip- 
tion of that powerful corporation. 

" Its two objects as set forth in its charter, were 'for the discovery of a new jDassage 
into the South Sea, and for the finding of some trade for furs, minerals and other con- 
siderable commodities.' It may well be suspected that the first was the face and the 
second the soul of the charter, which grants to the company the exclusive right of the 
'trade and commerce of all those seas, straits and bays, rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, 
in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the straits com- 
monly called Hudson straits,' and of all lands bordering them not under any other 



t 

110 OREGON. 



civilized government. This covered all territory within that immense basin from rim 
to rim, one edge dipping into the Atlantic and the other looking into the Pacific. 
Through this vast extent the company was made for ' all time hereafter, capable in 
law, to have, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy, and retain lands, rents, privileges, lib- 
erties, jurisdiction, franchise, and hereditaments of what kind, nature, or quality 
soever they be, to them and their successors.' The company held that region as a 
man holds his farm, or as the great bulk of real estate in England is now held. They 
could legislate over and govern it, bound only by the tenor and spirit of English law. 
and make war and peace within it ; and all persons outside the company could be for- 
bidden to ' visit, hunt, frequent, trade, traffic, or adventure' therein. For all this, 
and as a confession of allegiance to the crown as a dependent colony and province, 
they were to pay annually as rent ' two elks and two black beavers.' Cheap rent that, 
especially since the king or his agent must collect it on the ground of the company. 
To dwell in the territory or even to go across it would be as really a trespass as if it 
were done on the lawn of a private gentleman in Middlesex county, England. 

" Such were the chartered rights of a monopoly that growing bolder and more 
grasping became at last continental in swee]3, irresistible in power, and inexorable in 
spirit. In 1821 the crown granted to this and the Northwest Company united, and for 
a term of twenty-one years, the exclusive right to trade with all Indians in British 
North America, north and west of the United States, and not included in the first 
charter. This granted only trade, not ownership in the soil. Thus, while the chartered 
territory was imperial, it grew, by granted monopoly of trade, to be continental. By 
degrees the trappers and traders went over the rim of the Hudson basin, till they 
reached the Arctic seas along the outlet of the Coppermine and the Mackenzie. They 
set beaver traps on the Yukon and Fraser rivers, around the Athabasca, Slave and 
Bear lakes, and on the heads of the Columbia. From the adjacent Pacific shore they 
lined their treasury with the soft coats of the fur seal and the sea-otter. They were 
the pioneers of this traffic, and pressed this monopoly of fur on the sources, not only 
of the Mississippi and Missouri, but down into the Salt Lake basin of modern Utah. 
What minor and rival companies stood in the way they bought in, or crushed by un- 
derselling to the Indians. Individual enterprise in the fur trade, from Newfoundland 
to Vancouver, and from the headwaters of the Yellowstone to the mouth of the 
Mackenzie was at their mercy. They practically controlled the introduction of sup- 
plies and the outgoing of furs and peltries from all the immense region between those 
four points. 

" Within the Canadas and the other provinces they held the Indian and the Eu- 
ropean equally at bay, while within all this vast unorganized wilderness, their hand 
over red and white man was absolute. At first the company could govern as it pleased, 
and was autocratic and irresponsible. By additional legislation in 1803, the civil and 
criminal government of the Canadas was made to follow the company into lands out- 
side their first charter, commonly called Indian countries. The governor of Lower 
Canada had the appointing power of officials within those countries. But he did not 
send in special men ; he appointed those connected with the company and on the 
ground. The company, therefore, had the administration in those outside districts in 
its own hands. Thus the commercial life of the Canadas was so dependent upon the 



OREGON. Ill 

Hudson Bay Company that the government could be counted on to promote the wishes 
of the company. In brief, the government of British America was practically the 
Hudson Bay Company, and for all the privilege and monopoly which it enjoyed with- 
out seeming to demand it, there Avas an annual jmyment if called for of ' two elks and 
two black beavers.' 

" This company thus became a jjowerful organization. It had no rival to share 
the field, or waste the profits in litigation, or in bloody feuds beyond the region of 
law. [ Except the contest between it and the Northwest Company prior to their con- 
solidation.] It extended its lines, multiplied its posts and agents, systematized com- 
munication through the immense hunting grounds, economized time and funds by in- 
creased expedition, made many of its factories really fortifications, and so put the whole 
northern interior under British rule, and yet without a soldier. Rivers, lakes, moun- 
tains and prairies were covered by its agents and trappers. The white and the red 
men were on most friendly terms, and the birch canoe and the jiirogue were seen car- 
rying, in mixed company, both races, and, what was more, their mixed progeny. The 
extent of territory under this company seems almost fabulous. It was one-third larger 
than all Europe ; it was larger than the United States of to-day, Alaska included, by 
half a million of square miles. From the American headquarters at Montreal to the 
post at Vancouver was a distance of twenty -five hundred miles ; to Fort Selkirk on the 
Yukon, or to the one on Great Bear lake, it was three thousand miles, and it was still 
further to the rich fur seal and sea-otter on the tide waters of the Mackenzie. James 
bay and Bed river at Winnipeg seem near to Montreal in comparison. These dis- 
tances would compare well with air-line routes from Washington to Dublin, or Gib- 
raltar or Quito. 

"One contemplates this power with awe and fear, when he regards the even motion 
and solemn silence and unvarying sameness with which it has done its work through 
that dreary animal country. It has been said that a hundred years has not changed 
its bill of goods ordered from London. The company wants the same muskrat and 
beaver and seal ; the Indian hunter, unimproved, and the half-breed European, deterio- 
rating, want the same cotton goods, and flint-lock guns, and tobacco and gew-gaws. 
To-day, as a hundred years ago, the dog sled runs out from Winnipeg for its solitary 
drive of five hundred, or two thousand, or even three thousand miles. It glides, silent 
as a spectre, over those snow fields, and through the solemn, still forests, painfully 
wanting in animal life. Fifty, seventy, an hundred days it speeds along, and as many 
nights it camps without fire, and looks up to the same cold stars. At the inter veiling 
j)Osts the sledge makes a jiause, as a ship, having rounded Cape Horn, heaves to before 
some lone Pacific island. It is the same at the trader's hut or factory as when the 
sledgeman's grandfather drove up, the same dogs, the same half-breeds, or voyageurs to 
welcome him, the same foul, lounging Indians, and the same mink skin in exchange 
for the same trinkets. The fur animal and its purchaser and hunter, as the landscape, 
seem to be alike under the same immutable, unprogressive law of nature, 

' A land where all things always seemed the same,' 
as among the lotus-eaters. Human progress and Indian civilization have made 
scarcely more improvement than that central, silent partner in the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany — the beaver. 



112 OREGON. 

" One feels towards the power of this company, moving thus with evenness and 
immutability through a hundred years, much as one does towards a law of nature. At 
Fort Selkirk, for example, the fifty-two numbers of the weekly London Times came 
in on the last sledge arrival. The first number is already three years old, by its 
tedious voyage from the Thames. Now one number only a week is read, that the lone 
trader there may have fresh news weekly until the next annual dog-mail arrives, and 
each successive number is three years behind time when it is opened ! In this day of 
steamers and telegraphs and telephones, does it seem possible that any human, white 
habitation can be so outside of the geography and chronology of the world ? The goods 
of the company, packed and shipped in Fenchurch street, leave London, and at the 
end of the third year they are delivered at Fort Confidence on Great Bear lake, or at 
any other extreme factory of the company ; and at the end of three years more the re- 
turn furs go up the Thames and into Fenchurch street again. So in cycles of six 
years, and from age to age, like a planet, the shares in the Hudson Bay Company 
make their orbit and" dividends. A run of three months and the London ship drops 
anchor in Hudson bay. ' For one year ' says Butler in his ' Great Lone Land,' ' the 
stores that she has brought in lie in the warehouse of York Factory ; twelve months 
later they reach Ked river ; twelve months later they reach Fort Simpson on the Mac- 
kenzie.' 

" The original stock of this company was $50,820. In fifty years it was trippled 
twice by profits only, and went up to $457,380, while not one new dollar was paid in. 
In 1821 the company absorbed the Northwest Company of Montreal, on a basis of 
value equal to its own. The consolidated stock then was $1,916,000, of which 
$1,780,866 was from profits. Yet, meanwhile, there had been an annual payment of 
ten per cent, to stockholders. In 1836 one of the company's ships left Fort George 
for London, with a cargo of furs valued at $380,000. * * When the 

English government, in 1846, conceded the claims of the United States to Oregon, 
property of the Hudson Bay Company was found within Oregon for which that com- 
pany claimed $4,990,036.67. One cannot but admire the foresight, compass, policy, 
and ability with which those English fur traders moved to gain possession, and then 
keep in wilderness for fur-bearing, so much of North America. 
Travelers tell us of an oppressive, painful silence through all that weird northland. 
Quadnvped life, and the scanty little that there is of bird life, is not vocal, much less 
musical. This company has partaken of the silence of its domain. It makes but 
little noise for so great an organization. It says but few things and only the necessary 
ones, and even those with an obscurity often, that only the interested and initiated 
understand. The statements of its works and results are mostly in the passive voice." 

This description carries us somewhat beyond the era of which this chapter treats, 
but it is done for a purpose, that the reader might fully comprehend the full power, 
methods and objects of this potent corporation which represented England in its con- 
test with the United States for the fair land of Oregon. If he will study it he will 
discover the fatal points of weakness, which will be developed more and more as the 
story of that long contest is unfolded. The company desired to win Oregon for Eng- 
land, not that the power and dominion of that great empire might be extended, but 
that the company might be left unmolested to dominate this region and fill its treasure 





\\ \ ' s C:': : '"i ■?■:.=. "'•:' .:■■■ 



OREGON. 113 

boxes with the products of the wilderness ; for its officers well knew that from Eng- 
land they might hope for an indefinite extension of its monopoly rights, but fromfthe 
United States nothing. It was an effort to beat back the wave of progress and civili- 
zation, and failure could have been the only result, For two centuries it had reigned 
supreme in British America, and had defeated every effort to make of that region any- 
thing but a vast hunting ground for its representatives. It was from the first its policy 
to discourage and prevent if possible any exploration of its dominions, and instances 
are not wanting where expeditions sent out by the- home government came to grief 
through the machinations of the company. It occasionally sent out explorers in search 
of new fields in which to operate, but was careful to keep the knowledge thus obtained 
a secret, and to make no record of anything save what was necessary in the prosecu- 
tion of its business. This policy it endeavored to carry out in Oregon ; but it miscal- 
culated its strength and was swept away before the resistless march of American progress. 



CHAPTER XV. 



RIVALRY OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN FUR COMPANIES. 

Outlook for Joint Occupation — American and English Fur Traders Compared— Fort Vancouver Founded — De- 
scribed by John Dunn — American Trapping History — Expeditions of Jedediah S. Smith — The Hudson's Bay 
Company Enters California — Ewing Young's Party— Bonneville and Wyeth — Failure of American Trappers 
in Oregon — Cause of their 111 Success. 

When joint occupation of Oregon was agreed upon in 1818, the only Caucasians 
in the country, as we have seen, were representatives of the Northwest Company, or, 
as they became in a few years, of the Hudson's Bay Company. Not an American was 
to be found along the Columbia from its source to its mouth. After the disastrous 
venture of Mr. Astor and his unsuccessful efforts to secure a restoration of his property 
through the medium of the government, which, could it but have recognized the fact, 
was far more deejDly interested in retaining under American control the mouth of the 
Columbia than any private citizen could possibly have been, traders hesitated to enter 
this region and undertake to compete with the powerful organization already entrenched. 
The question of taking military possession of the Columbia was frequently discussed 
in congress, committees reported favorably on it at various times, and a number of 
plans were advocated, among them being one to send a body of troops overland to oc- 
cupy the disputed territory, and another to construct a chain of forts across the con- 
tinent, which should form a basis of supplies and protection for emigrants. None of 
these plans were adopted, and it was then a little early for emigrants. 

15 




1U OREGON. 

The great drawback was the fact that there was no American company sufficiently 
powerful to enter the field in competition with the English corporation. The Ameri- 
cans were nearly all independent traders, operating individually or in partnerships of 
two or three. Separately they had not the capital to carry on a business in the sys- 
tematic and comprehensive manner in which the Hudson's Bay Company operated. 
One unsuccessful season with them was often financially disastrous, while to the great 
company a completely unsuccessful year was impossible. Covering such a vast scope 
of country, dealing Avith so many tribes, and handling such varied classes of furs, such 
a thins: as a total failure was unknown. Losses in one section were certain to be com- 
pensated for by unusual gains in another. Whenever two trapping parties met in open 
competition for the trade of a tribe, the Americans had to go to the wall, except in the 
few cases where they outwitted their opponents. The English trader was instructed to 
do anything he chose to spoil the trade of his rivals. JSTo spectre of bankruptcy 
shook its bony finger before his face, no vision of an angry and distrustful partner 
rose up before him. He could sit quietly down and give away every dollar's worth of 
goods he had, if it were necessary so to do in order to prevent the Indians from trading 
with his rivals. On the other hand the American trader, with the last dollar he pos- 
sessed invested in this one venture, could neither give away his goods nor could he 
afford to lose the trade before him ; for often the chance he then had to secure a good 
stock of furs w T as the only opportunity offered during the season, and to miss it meant 
ruin. Not only this, but the American traders carried on such sharp competition among 
themselves that they were the more unable to hold their ground against a harmonious 
organization. The fact that congress in 1815 passed an act expelling all foreign traders 
from the territories east of the Rocky mountains is of importance only as it signifies 
the desire of the government to aid our struggling pioneer traders ; for the act was 
practically inoperative, since agents of the Hudson's Bay Company continued to mo- 
nopolize the Indian trade on the ivpper Missouri and its affluents. 

In 1821 the Northwest Company established a post on the north bank of the Co- 
lumbia, a few miles above the mouth of the Willamette, which was called Fort Van- 
couver, since this was the highest point reached by the exploring party of the Van- 
couver expedition in 1792. In 1823 the Hudson's Bay Company removed its Pacific 
headquarters from Astoria to that point because it possessed the desirable features for 
such an establishment more fully than any other in this whole region. It was near the 
mouth of the Willamette and therefore the center and natural converging point of 
trapping parties coming down the Columbia from the vast wilderness to the east or 
with the annual overland express from Montreal, from the rich trapping grounds to 
the south, or from the upper coast and Puget sound; agriculturally, the surroundings 
were all that could be desired to raise the large crops of grain and vegetables required 
at all the company's posts and to furnish pasturage, for the beef and dairy cattle ; it 
was easily approachable by deep-water vessels of large draft, and presented excellent 
natural facilities for loading and discharging cargo. The vessels that came at stated 
periods to bring supplies and carry away the accumulated furs, could spare the few days 
of extra time required to ascend the river better than the employees of the company 
could spare it in passing to and from headquarters in the transaction of business. Van- 
couver was the most eligible site on the Columbia for the chief trading post, and 



OREGON. 115 

remained the company's headquarters until it abandoned this region entirely in 
1858. 

During the next four years the company spread out in all directions, from Califor- 
nia to Alaska and from the Pacific to the Rocky mountains. Some idea can be gained 
of its power and methods in Oregon from the following description given by John 
Dunn, for seven years a clerk and trader of the company : 

' Fort Vancouver is the grand mart and rendezvous for the company's trade and 
servants on the Pacific. Thither all the furs and other articles of trade collected west 
of the Rocky mountains from California to the Russian territories, are brought from 
the several other forts and stations ; and from thence they are shipped to England. 
Thither too all the goods brought from England for traffic — the various articles in 
woolens and cottons — in grocery — in hardware — ready-made clothes — oils and paints 
— ship stores, etc., are landed ; and from thence they are distributed to the various 
posts of the interior, and along the northern shores by sailing vessels ; or by boat ; or 
pack horses ; as the several routes permit ; for distribution and traffic among the na- 
tives, or for the supply of the company's servants. In a word, Fort Vancouver is the 
grand emporium of the company's trade, west of the Rocky mountains ; as well within 
the Oregon territory, as beyond it, from California to Kamstchatka. 

" The fort is in the shape of a parallelogram, about 250 yards long, by 150 broad ; 
enclosed by a sort of wooden wall, made of pickets, or large beams fixed firmly in the 
ground, and closely fitted together, twenty feet high, and strongly secured on the inside 
by buttresses. At each angle there is a bastion, mounting two twelve pounders, and 
in the center there are some eighteen pounders ; but from the subdued and pacific char- 
acter of the natives, and the long absence of all apprehension, these canon have be- 
come useless. The area within is divided into two courts, around which are arranged 
about forty neat, strong wooden buildings, one story high, designed for various purposes 
— such as offices, apartments for the clerks and other officers — warehouses for furs, 
English goods and other commodities — workshops for the different mechanics ; carpen- 
ters, blacksmiths, coopers, wheelwrights, tinners, etc. ; in all of which there is the most 
diligent and unceasing activity and industry. There is also a school house and chapel; 
and a powder magazine built of brick and stone. 

" In the centre stands the governor's residence, which is two stories high — the din- 
ing hall ; and the public sitting room. All the clerks and officers, including the chap- 
lain and physician, dine together in the hall ; the governor presiding. The dinner is 
of the most substantial kind, consisting of several courses. Wine is frequently allowed ; 
but no spirituous liquors. After grace has been said, the company break up. Then 
most of the party retire to the public sitting room, called ' Bachelor's Hall, ' or the 
smoking room ; to amuse themselves as they please, either in smoking, reading, or tell- 
ing and listening to stories of their own and others' curious adventures. Sometimes 
there is a great influx of company, consisting of the chief traders from the outposts, 
who arrive at the fort on business ; and the commanders of vessels. These are gala 
times after dinner ; and there is a great deal of amusement, but always kept under 
strict discipline, and regulated by the strictest propriety. There is, on no occasion, 
cause for ennui, or a lack of anecdote or interesting narrative ; or indeed of any in- 
tellectual amusement ; for if smoking and story-telling be irksome, then there is the 



HG OREGON. 

horse ready to mount, and the rifle prepared. The voyageur and the trapper, who 
have traversed thousands of miles through wild and unfrequented regions ; and the 
mariner, who has circumnavigated the globe, may be found grouped together, smoking, 
joking, singing and story telling ; and in every way banishing dull care, till the period 
of their again setting out for their respective destinations arrives. The smoking room 
or ' bachelor's hall,' presents the appearance of an armoury and a museum. All sorts 
of weapons, and dresses, and curiosities of civilized and savage life, and of the various 
implements for the prosecution of the trade, may be seen there. The mechanics, and 
other servants of the establishment, do not dine in the hall or go to the smoking room. 

" The school is for the benefit of the half breed children of the officers and ser- 
vants of the company, and of many orphan children of Indians who have been in the 
company's employment. They are taught English (sometimes French), writing, arith- 
metic and geography ; and are subsequently either apprenticed to traders in Canada ; 
or kept in the company's service. The front square is the place where the Indians and 
trappers deposit their furs, and other articles, and make their sales, etc. There may be 
seen, too, great numbers of men sorting and packing the various goods ; and scores of 
Canadians beating and cleaning the furs from the dust and vermin, and coarse hairs, 
previous to exportation. Six hundred yards below the fort, and on the bank of the 
river, there is a neat village, of about sixty well built wooden houses, generally con- 
structed like those within the fort ; in which the mechanics, and other servants of the 
company, who are in general Canadians and Scotchmen, reside with their families. 
They are built in rows, and present the appearance of small streets. They are kept 
in a neat and orderly manner. Here there is an hospital, in which the invalided ser- 
vants of the company, and, indeed, others who may wish to avail themselves of it, are 
treated with the utmost care. 

" Many of the officers of the company- marry half breed women. They discharge 
the several duties of wife and mother with fidelity, cleverness and attention. They 
are, in general, good housewives ; and are remarkably ingenious as needlewomen. 
Many of them, besides possessing a knowledge of English, speak French correctly, and 
possess other accomplishments ; and they sometimes attend their husbands on their dis- 
tant and tedious journeys and voyages. These half breed women are of a superior 
class ; being the daughters of chief traders and factors, and other persons, high in the 
company's service, by Indian women of a suj>erior descent or of superior personal at- 
tractions. Though they generally dress after the English fashion, according as they 
see it used by the English wives of the superior officers, yet they retain one peculiarity 
— the leggin or gaiter, which is made (now that the tanned deer skin has been super- 
seded) of the finest, and most gaudy coloured cloth, beautifully ornamented with beads. 
The lower classes of the company's servants marry native women, from the tribes of 
the upper country ; where the women are round-headed and beautiful. These, too, 
generally speaking, soon learn the art of useful housewifery with great adroitness and 
readiness ; and they are encouraged and rewarded in every way by the company, in 
their efforts to acquire domestic economy and comfort. These, too, imitate, in costume 
the dress of the officers' wives, as much as they can ; and from their necessities of po- 
sition, which exposes them more to wet and drudgery, they retain the moccasin, in 
place of adopting the low-quartered shoe. 




■ '.■■:::''7*'.'fV^-~ '■ "■'--■" 



OREGON. 117 

•' Attached to the fort there is a magnificent farm ; consisting of about 3,000 acres . 
of which 1,500 acres have been already brought to the highest state of tillage. It 
stretches behind the fort, and on both sides, along the banks of the river. It is fenced 
into beautiful corn fields — vegetable fields — orchards — gardens — and pasture fields, 
which are interspersed with dairy houses, shepherds' and herdsmen's cottages. It is 
placed under the most judicious management ; and neither expense nor labour has been 
spared to bring it to the most perfect cultivation. There is a large grist mill, and a 
threshing mill, which are worked by horse power ; and a saw mill Avorked by water 
power. All kinds of grains and vegetables, and many species of fruits, are produced 
there in abundance and of superior quality. The grain crops are produced without 
manure ; and the wheat crop, especially, is represented by practical farmers to be won- 
derful. 

" Besides this farm, which they are "every day extending, they have commenced 
farming on a large scale on the Cowlitze, to the north ; Umpqua, to the south ; and in 
other parts of the territory, where they have established posts, the produce of all of which 
they use for exportation both to the Russian stations in Kamskatka (as they entered 
into a contract with the Russians, in 1839, to supply their posts in those regions with 
provisions at fixed prices), and to the islands in the Southern Pacific ; and to British 
and American whalers and to other merchant ships. They also keep scores of wood 
cutters, employed to fell timber, which is sawed up in large quantities — 3,000 feet a 
day, and regularly shipped for the Sandwich islands, and other foreign ports. And as 
they can afford to sell the goods purchased in England under a contract of old standing, 
together with the productions of the territory and their own farms — fish, beef, mutton, 
pork, timber, etc., at nearly half the American price, they are likel}' to engross the 
whole trade of the Pacific, as they do already the trade of the Oregon ; especially since 
they command all the ports and safe inlets of the country. This the Americans feel 
and declare ; and it is this which whets their cupidity, and excites their jealousy and 
hatred. 

" Trapping parties leaving Vancouver are some weeks preparing for the mountains 
and prairies. The blacksmiths are busily engaged making beaver traps for the trap- 
pers — the store keepers making up articles for trade, and equipping the men, the clerk 
in charge of the provision store packing up provisions for them, to last until they get 
into hunting ground, the clerk in charge of the farm providing horses, and other re- 
quisite articles. The party generally consists of about fifty or sixty men — most of them 
the company's servants — others, free hunters. The servants have a stated salary, while 
the freemen receive so much per skin. Previous to leaving the fort for the arduous 
adventure they are allowed a small quantity of rum per man ; and they generally en- 
joy a grand holiday and feast the night previous to starting. Each man has a certain 
number of horses, sufficient to carry his equipment. The free trarjpers generally pro- 
vide their own animals. Both the company's servants and the freemen frequently take 
their wives and families with them ; the women are very useful on the expedition, in 
preparing meals and other necessaries for their husbands during their absence from 
the camp. In summer and winter, whether they have a sort of a traveling camp or a 
fixed residence, they select the localities that most abound in fur-bearing animals. 
Though a party may be obliged, from a variety of circumstances, to winter in the plain, 



118 L OREGON. 

or in the recesses of the mountains ; or on the borders of lakes and rivers, some num- 
bers of it return to the fort at the fall, with the produce of the season's hunt, and re- 
port progress ; and return to the camp with a reinforcement of necessary supplies. 
Thus the company are enabled to acquire a minute knowledge of the country and the 
natives ; and extend their power and authority over both." 

Such was the hold the Hudson's Bay Company had upon Oregon when Americans 
attempted to enter the country and exercise their rights under the r treaty of joint oc- 
cupancy. To show how American trappers first extended their operations into the 
disputed country, requires a short sketch of the American fur trade. 

In 1762, while Louisiana was still a province of France, its governor chartered a 
fur company under the name of Pierre Ligueste Laclede, Antoine Maxan & Co. La- 
clede established St. Louis the following year, and it became a headquarters for the fur 
trade similar to Mackinaw and Montreal. The business of this company and many 
others that engaged along the Missouri in the trapping of beaver became very large. 
The acquisition of Louisiana by the United States threw this trade into the hands of 
the Americans. In 1815, congress passed an act expelling British traders from all 
the territories east of the Rocky mountains, and the American Fur Company, at the 
head of which Mr. Astor had been for many years, began to send trappers to the head- 
waters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. American trappers also penetrated into 
New Mexico and established a trade between St. Louis and Santa Fe. Up to this 
time but one attempt had been made by trappers to penetrate the Rocky mountains, 
and that was in 1808, by the M issouri Fur Company, at the head of which was a 
Spaniard named Manuel Lisa. Posts were established on the upper Missouri and one 
on Lewis river, the south branch of the Columbia; but the failure of supplies and 
the hostility of the savages caused its abandonment by the manager, Mr. Henry, in 
1810. 

In 1823, Gen. W. H. Ashley, a St. Louis merchant long engaged in the fur trade, 
pushed a trapping party into the Rocky mountains. He went up the Platte to the 
Sweetwater, and up that stream to its source, discovered the South pass, explored the 
head-waters of the Colorado (or Green) river, and returned to St. Louis in the fall. 
The next year he again penetrated the mountains and built a trading fort on Lake 
Ashley, near Great Salt Lake, both of which bodies of water were discovered by him 
that year, and returned, leaving there one hundred men. From that time the head- 
waters of the Missouri and its tributaries, the Green and Columbia rivers and their 
tributaries, were the trapping-ground of hundreds of daring men, whose wild and 
reckless life, privations and encounters with the savages, make a theme of romance 
that has occupied the pen of Washington Irving and many authors of lesser note, and 
been the source from which the novelists of the sensational school have drawn a wealth 
of material. It was the custom to divide the trappers into bands of sufficient strength 
to defend themselves against the attacks of savages, and send them out in different 
directions during the trapping season, to assemble the next summer at a grand rendez- 
vous previously appointed, the head-waters of Green river being the favorite locality 
for the annual meeting. 

In the spring of 1825, Jedediah S. Smith led a company of this kind, consisting 
of about forty men, into the country west of Great Salt Lake, discovered Humboldt 



OREGON. 13!> 

river and named it Mary's river, followed down that stream and crossed the Sierra 
Nevada into the great valley in July. He collected a large quantity of furs, estab- 
lished a headquarters on the American river near Folsom, and then, with two com- 
panions, recrossed the mountains through Walker's pass, and returned to the general 
rendezvous on Green river, to tell of the wonderful valley he had visited. Cronise 
speaksof American trappers having penetrated into California as early as 1820, but 
is evidently mistaken, as there is no record of any party crossing the Rocky mountains 
previous to the expedition of Mr. Ashley in 1823, save those already mentioned. 
Jedediah S. Smith must stand in history as the first white man to lead a party over- 
land into California. The return of Smith with such a valuable collection of furs, 
and specimens of placer gold he had discovered on his return journey near Mono lake, 
led to his being sent again the next season, with instructions to thoroughly inspect the 
gold placers on the way. This time he went as a partner, Mr. Ashley having sold his 
interest to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, consisting of William Sublette, Jede- 
diah S. Smith and David Jackson. He passed as far south as the Colorado river, and 
there had a battle with the Indians, in which all but himself, Turner and Galbraith 
were killed. They escaped and arrived at the Mission San Gabriel, where they were 
arrested as filibusters and sent to San Diego, but were released upon the certificate of 
the officers of some American vessels who chanced to be on the coast, that they were 
peaceful trappers and had passports from the commissioner of Indian affairs. This 
certificate bears date December 20, 1826, and in the ensuing May we find them in 
camp near San Jose, where the following letter was written to Father Duran, who had 
seDt to know what their presence there signified : — 

Reverend Fathei. : — I understand, through the medium of one of your Christian Indians, 
that you are anxious to know who we are, as some of the Indians have been at the mission and 
informed you that there were certain white people in the country. We are Americans on our 
journey to the River Columbia ; we were in at the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to 
San Diego and saw the general, and got a passport from him to pass on to that place. I have made 
several efforts to cross the mountains, but the snows being so deep, I could not succeed in getting 
over. I returned to this place (it being the only point to kill meat), to wait a few weeks until the 
snow melts so that I can go on ; the Indians here also being friendly, I consider it the most safe 
point for me to remain, until such time as I can cross the mountains with my horses, having lost a 
great many in attempting to cross ten or fifteen days since. I am a long ways from home, and am 
anxious to get there as soon as the nature of the case will admit. Our situation is quite unpleas- 
ant, being destitute of clothing and most of the necessaries of life, wild meat being our principal 
subsistence. I am, Reverend Father, your strange but real friend and Christian brother. 

J. S. Smith. 
May 19th, 1827. 

Smith had united himself with the party he had left in 1825 on the American 
river, and who had been very successful during his absence, and now that he could 
not cross the Sierra Nevada, decided to penetrate north to the Columbia and follow 
up that stream to the Rocky mountains, expecting to join his partners at the Green 
river rendezvous. Xear the head of the Sacramento valley the party crossed the 
Coast Range to the west, reaching the ocean near the mouth of Russian river, and con- 
tinued up the coast to the Umpqua. While stopping here to construct a raft for the 
purpose of ferrying their effects across the stream, their camp was suddenly attacked 
by Indians with whom they were holding friendly intercourse, and all but three were 
slain. Smith, Daniel Prior, and an Indian were on the raft at the time of the attack, 



120 OREGON. 

and when the signal veil was given the Indian seized Smith's rifle and sprung into the 
water; but the old mountaineer grasped his companion's gun, and as soon as the 
treacherous rascal thrust his head out of water to catch a breath, sent a bullet through 
his brain. The two men then landed on the opposite side of the river and started on 
foot for Vancouver, which they eventually reached in safety. The third one who 
escaped was Richard Laughlin, who seized a burning brand from the fire and with 
vigorous blows upon the naked bodies of the savages cleared a passage for himself 
through the assailants and escaped uninjured. After enduring many hardships he, 
too, reached the company's headquarters on the Columbia. 

The Hudson's Bay Company had made it an inflexible rule to treat the natives 
justly and even liberally, to give them no cause of offense or complaint ; but to main- 
tain respect for their power and authority and to show the natives that their conduct 
was not inspired by fear, they never failed to punish offending tribes or individuals in 
such a manner as would be a perpetual warning to them in the future. It happened 
that Governor Simpson was at Fort Vancouver at the time Smith arrived in such a 
forlorn condition, and he sent out a party under Thomas McKay, son of Alexander 
McKay, the partner of Mr. Astor who perished on the Tonquin, to punish the Indians 
and recover the captured property, both as a necessary step to maintain the company's 
authority and as an act of courtesy to the despoiled trader. Accounts vary as to the 
degree of punishment inflicted, but at all events the furs were recovered and conveyed 
to Vancouver, and since he could not carry them, having no means, and since the 
company, from a business point of view, could not afford to provide him with facilities 
for carrying on opposition to it, he sold the whole lot to the company for $40,000. 
Though this was much below the market price in St. Louis, it was a pretty fair valu- 
ation for them on the Columbia. The most minute account of this transaction is given 
by Rev. Gustavus Hines, to whom it was related by Dr. McLaughlin, chief factor of 
the company, a few years subsequently. But one writer has seriously questioned the 
correctness of these statements. Gray's History of Oregon states that the property 
was recovered " by giving them presents of blankets and powder, and such things as 
the Indians wished, as stated to us by a Frenchman, a servant of the company, who 
' was one of Mr. McKay's party that went to get the furs. They found no bodies to 
bury, and had no fight with the Indians about the property, as stated by Mr. Smith, 
also. But, as the Hudson's Bay Company tells the story through Mr. Hines, they 
' spread terror through the tribes.'' * Mr. Hines says his Umpqua party 

' returned in triumph to Vancouver.'' And well they might, for they had made the 
best season's hunt they ever made, in getting those furs and the property of Smith? 
which paid them well for the expedition, as there was no market for Smith, except 
London, through the hypocritical kindness of Mr. Simpson. By this time, Mr. Smith 
had learned all he wished to of this company. He preferred giving them his furs at 
their own price to being under any further obligations to them. Mr. Sublette, Mr. 
Smith's partner, did not speak as though he felt under much obligation to Mr. Simp- 
son or the Hudson's Bay Company, which was not long after the transaction referred 
to. I do not know how the company regard these statements of Mr. Hines, yet I 
regard them as true so far as Mr. Hines is concerned, but utterly false as regards the 
company. * According to the testimony given in the case of the 



OREGON. 121 

Hudson's Bay Company vs. United States, the amount of furs seized by the company 
at that time was forty packs, worth at the time $1,000 each, besides the animals and 
equipments belonging to the party, a large portion of which was given to the Indians, 
to compensate them for their services rendered to the company, in destroying Smith's 
expedition and killing his men." 

When it is known that the author of the above bears such bitter hatred towards 
the Hudson's Bay Company and the officers who represented it in Oregon that he can- 
not even hear the name mentioned without bristling up in anger, and that this feeling- 
grew out of early missionary feuds, the hated company having supported the Catholic 
missionaries, opponents of this gentleman and his associates in the Protestant missions 
it will be understood how, having been thus carried beyond the verge of reason, he 
could make such deliberate charges of inhumanity against men well known to have 
been possessed of more than ordinary integrity, benevolence and morality That the 
company's policy was to break down all opposition, is true ; that in order to do this 
they strictly enjoined all Indians over whom they exercised any control from dealing 
with independent traders or selling them supplies, and instructed the agents at their 
various posts to refuse supplies and ammunition to them, except when it became a case 
of pure humanity, is also true ; but that it ever encouraged the thought among the na- 
tives that it would be pleased by the murder of Americans is not susceptible of proof, 
and the idea is as inconsistent with well known facts as it is with the character of the 
men who administered the company's affairs in Oregon. Dr. John McLaughlin was 
one of nature's noblemen, kind and benevolent in character and in manners a thor- 
ough gentleman. Undeserved abuse has been heaped upon his head- by his enemies 
without stint, many of whom display the basest ingratitude in so doing. Though 
instructed by the company to oppose the settlement of Americans and to refuse to sell 
them supplies, his kind heart would not permit him to carry out the injunction. The 
needy pioneer never applied to him in vain He not only sold them supplies but gave 
them credit, many of them never settling their scores , and for this he was in later 
years dismissed from his position and compelled by the company to pay from his oavii 
pocket all that was owing from these ungrateful men who at that very time were vili- 
fying his name, being thus brought to the verge of bankruptcy. It is needless to go 
into further details, for all, save a few whom blind prejudice holds in chains, bear testi- 
mony to the grandeur of Dr. McLaughlin's character. As for Tom McKay he was 
universally respected by whites and Indians for his sterling integrity, and bscause of 
this held greater influence over the Indians of this region than any man before or 
since. He took up land in the Willamette valley and lived as an American citizen, 
loved and respected to the day of his death. To ascribe such conduct to men like 
this is to show that judgment has been so distorted by prejudice as to be valueless. 

Smith's party was the first band of American trappers to visit this region, and as 
their presence was unsuspected by the company it is impossible that the Indians could 
have been stirred up against them. A few years later, when the American traders 
were better known here and settlers began to arrive, the distinction between the Bostons 
(Americans) and King George men (Englishmen), became better known, and the In- 
dians became prejudiced against the former for reasons that will be given in speaking 
of American settlements. Dunn relates an incident which shows this spirit in after 



122 OREGON. 

years among the savages, and which also shows that it was not fostered by the company, 
He says : 

" On one occasion an American vessel, Captain Thompson, was in the Columbia, 
trading for furs and salmon. The vessel had got aground, in the upper part of the river, 
and the Indians, from various quarters, mustered with the intent of cutting the Ameri- 
cans off, thinking that they had an opportunity of revenge, and would thus escape the 
censure of the company. Dr. M'Laughlin, the governor of Fort Vancouver, hearing 
of their intention, immediately dispatched a party to their rendezvous; and informed 
them that if they injured one American, it would be just the same offense as if they 
had injured one of his servants, and they would be treated equally as enemies. This 
stunned them ; and they relinquished their purpose ; and all retired to their respective 
homes. Had not this come to the governor's ears the Americans must have perished." 

A party of trappers was then sent out from Vancouver to penetrate into California, 
headed by Alexander Roderick McLeod and guided by one of the survivors of the 
Umpqua massacre. They passed through Rogue river valley, over Siskiyou mountain, 
and entered California by the way of the Sacramento river, trapping along the streams 
that course through the valley. In the early part of the winter they were caught in 
a severe snow storm on one of the tributaries of the Sacramento, in Shasta county, 
and narrowly escaped starvation. They lost their horses and were in a sad plight. Joe 
McLaughlin, son of the chief factor, set out on foot with a companion to procure aid 
from Vancouver, and reached that place after much hardship and privation. McLeod 
did not wait, however, but cached his furs, which were extremely valuable, and strug- 
gled through to Vancouver with the remainder of his men. Another party was then 
dispatched to recover the peltries, but found them spoiled. The stream which wit- 
nessed his misfortune was ever afterwards called McLeod (now improperly spelled Mc- 
Cloud) by his companion trappers. 

Before the return of this unfortunate party to the fort, another, under Peter 
Ogden and accompanied by Smith, started for the new trapping grounds by another 
route. They passed up the Columbia and Lewis rivers to the source of the latter, at 
which point Smith left them and returned to the rendezvous on Green river, to report 
his manifold misfortunes. He sold his interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company 
in 1830, and the next year was treacherously killed by Indians while digging for 
water in the dry bed of the Cimeron river, near Taos, New Mexico, and was buried 
there by his companions. After Smith took his leave on Lewis river Ogden 's party 
continued south to Mary's or Humboldt river, which was thereafter known as Ogden's 
river by the English, continued down that stream to the sink and crossed over the 
mountains to California through Walker's pass. They trapped along the Sacramento 
and followed McLeod's trail back to Vancouver. From that time till it became a por- 
tion of the United States in 1846, California was one of the regular trapping grounds 
of the Hudson's Bay Company. 

The second party of American trappers to enter Oregon was that of Major Pilcher. 
They left Green river in 1828, and passed along the western base of the Rocky moun- 
tains to Flathead lake, where they wintered. In the spring they descended Clarke's 
Fork and the main Columbia to Colville river, up which they ascended to its source 
and started on their return eastward. Gray says : " This party of Major Pilcher 



OREGON. 123 

were all cut off but two men, besides himself; his furs, as stated by himself to the 
writer, found their way into the forts of the Hudson's Bay Company." The writer, 
though not stating- it positively, intends to convey the impression that these men were 
murdered at the instigation of the Hudson's Bay Company, or at least with its sanction." 
That the captured furs were sold to the company is true, but as that was the only mar- 
ket open to the Indians it is a very small foundation upon which to lay a charge of 
murder against the purchasers. The next band of American trappers was that of 
Ewiug Young, who had been for years a leader of trapping parties from Santa Fe to 
the head waters of the Del Norte, Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. He entered Cali- 
fornia through Walker's pass in 1829, and returned the next year. In 1832 he again 
entered California and followed Smith's route into Oregon as far as the Umpqua, when 
he turned eastward, crossed the mountains to the tributary streams of the Columbia 
and Snake rivers, entered Sacramento valley again from the north, and finally crossed 
out by the Tejon pass, having been absent from Santa Fe two years. Mr. Young soon 
returned, and became one of the first and most energetic of the American settlers in 
Oregon. 

When Smith sold his interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1830, 
William Sublette and David Jackson retired also, and the new partners were Milton 
Sublette, James Bridger, Robert Campbell, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Frapp and Jarvais. 
In 1831 the old American Fur Company, which had been managed so long by Mr. 
Astor but was now directed by Ramsey Crooks, began to push into the trapping 
grounds of the other company. Great rivalry sprung up between them, which was the 
following year intensified by the appearance of two other competitors in the jiersons of 
Captain B. L. E. Bonneville and Nathaniel J. Wyeth. Captain Bonneville was a 
United States army officer, who had been given permission to lead a party of trappers 
into the fur regions of the northwest, the expedition being countenanced by the govern- 
ment only to the extent of this permit. It was supposed, that, by such an undertaking, 
sufficient additional information of the region explored would be obtained to warrant 
authorizing an officer to engage in a private venture. The captain first reached the 
Rocky mountains in 1832. In 1833 he sent Joseph Walker with forty men to Cali- 
fornia over the route formerly pursued by Smith, and on Christmas of the same year 
started with three companions from his camp on Portneuf river, upon an expedition to 
Fort Walla Walla. His object, as given by Irving, was: "To make himself acquainted 
with the country, and the Indian tribes ; it being one part of his scheme, to establish a 
trading post somewhere on the lower part of the river, so as to participate in the trade 
lost to the United States by the capture of Astoria." He reached Powder river on the 
twelfth of January, 1834, whence his journey was continued down Snake river and by 
the Nez Perce trail to Fort Walla Walla, where he arrived March 4, 1834. 

This journey, in mid- winter, was attended with its accompanying detail of hard- 
ships incident to the season, including the absence of game and presence of snow in 
the mountains. At one time, they had wandered among the Blue mountains, lost amid 
its canyons and defiles east of the Grand Ronde valley, for twenty days, nearly frozen 
and constantly starved, until they were at the verge of despair. At length, a Nez 
Perce chief was met, who invited them to his lodge some twelve miles further along 
the trail they were traveling, and then galloped away. So great had been the strain 



124 OREGON. 

upon the captain's system in sustaining these successive days of unnatural exertion, 
that when the chief disappeared, he sunk upon the ground and lay there like one dead. 
His companions tried in vain to arouse him. It was a useless effort, and they were 
' forced to camj) by the trail until he awoke from this trance the next day and was 
enabled to move on. They had hardly resumed their tedious journey, when some 
dozen Nez Perces rode up with fresh horses and carried them in triumph to their vil- 
lage. Everywhere, after this, they were kindly received by this hospitable people, fed, 
cared for and guided on their way by them. 

Bonneville and his two companions were kindly received at Fort Walla Walla by 
Mr. P C. Pambrun, who, with five or six men, was in charge of that station at the 
mouth of the Walla Walla river. This Hudson's Bay Company representative was a 
courteous, affable host, but when asked to sell the captain supplies that would enable 
his return to the Rocky mountains : " That worthy superintendent, who had extended 
all the genial rights of hospitality, now suddenly assumed a withered up aspect and 
demeanor, and observed that, however he might feel disposed to serve him jDersonally, 
he felt bound by his duty to the Hudson's Bay Company, to do nothing which should 
facilitate or encourage the visits of other traders among the Indians in that part of the 
country." Bonneville remained at the fort but two days, for his destitute condition, 
combined with the lateness in the season, rendered it necessary for him to return im- 
mediately ; and he started on the back trail with his Nez Perce guide, and finally 
reached the point of general rendezvous for his various expeditions. This is a true 
statement of the position assumed by the Hudson's Bay Company ; its agents would not 
themselves, nor would they permit the Indians under their control to deal with or in 
any manner assist opposition traders ; but that Bonneville traversed the country in 
safety with but three companions after the company was aware of his intention to re- 
turn and found a rival establishment on the Columbia, is convincing evidence that 
assassination was not one of its methods of overcoming competition, however much 
such charges may be reiterated by its enemies. 

In July, 1834, Bonneville started on a second expedition to the Columbia, with a 
formidable number of trappers and mountain men, well equipped, and with an exten- 
sive stock of goods to traffic with Indians. He still contemplated a restoration of 
American trade in this country, and designed establishing a post for that purpose in 
the Willamette valley. This time he passed the Blue mountains by way of Grand 
Honde valley and the Umatilla river, and upon his arrival at the mouth of that stream, 
was surprised to find the natives shunning him. They ran from his men, hid them- 
selves, and when intercepted, refused to have anything to do with the Americans. 
Not a skin, a horse, a dog, or a fish could be obtained from them, having been warned 
by the Hudson's Bay Company not to traffic with these new comers. It now seemed a 
question of immediate evacuation or starvation, and Bonneville decided to abandon his 
attempt at joint occupancy. Once more he turned his back upon the Columbia and 
left the English company in undisputed possession of the field. 

A contemporaneous effort was made by Nathaniel J. Wyeth, a Boston mer- 
chant. With eleven men who knew nothing of trapper-life, he crossed the plains to 
Humboldt river with Milton Sublette in 1832. From this point the twelve pushed 
north to Snake river, and by way of that stream to Fort Vancouver, where they 



i 




■aa 




:*: 




OREGON. 125 

arrived October 20. The fortune of Mr. Wyeth was invested in this enterprise and 
he had brought a stock of goods with him not well adapted to the Indian market. He 
was hospitably received by the Hudson's Bay Company. The next spring he left for 
the East, a financial bankrupt, deserted by all of his followers except two. It is not 
recorded that the company's officers in any way contributed towards producing this 
result ; but, if they did not, it was because they believed it unnecessary, knowing that 
failure would follow without their manipulation. Arriviug in Boston, Mr. Wyeth 
organized The Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company, with a view of con- 
tinuing operations on the Pacific coast under the same general plan that had formerly 
been pursued by Astor, proposing, however, to add salmon fishing to the fur business. 
A brig, called the May Decres, sailed for the Columbia river with stores, and Mr. 
Wyeth, with sixty experienced men, started for the same place across the continent in 
1834. Xear the head waters of Snake river, he established Fort Hall as an interior 
trading post, named in honor of one of his partners, where he left twelve men and a 
stock of goods. He then pushed forward to the Columbia and erected a fort on 
Sauvie's island at the mouth of the Willamette river, which he called Fort Williams, in 
honor of another partner ; and again the American flag waved over soil west of the 
Rocky mountains. 

The officers of the company again received him with much hospitality, and 
though they continued to treat him with courtesy, this did not prevent them from 
taking the steps necessary to protect the company's interests. Fort Boise was estab- 
lished as an opposition to Fort Hall and drew the bulk of the trade of the Indians 
of Snake river. On the Columbia Wyeth found that the natives were so completely 
under the control of the company that he could establish no business relations with 
them whatever. In two years he was compelled to sell all his possessions, including 
Fort Hall, to the rival company, and abandon this second effort at joint occupation. 

In 1835 the two rival American companies were consolidated as the American 
Fur Company, Bridger, Fontenelle and Briggs being the leaders. The retirement of 
Bonneville and the sale of Fort Hall by Mr. Wyeth left only the consolidated com- 
pany and a few " lone traders" to compete with the English corporation. For a few 
years longer the struggle was maintained, but gradually the Hudson's Bay Company 
absorbed the trade until the American trappers, so far as organized effort was con- 
cerned, abandoned the field. 

The chief secret of the failure of Americans and the success of the English — and 
it is best to be candid in this matter — was the radical difference in their methods of 
conducting^the business. The American trappers were, to a large extent, made up of 
a class of wild, reckless and brutal men, many of them fugitives from justice. With 
them might made right, and the privilege of shooting Indians was considered an in- 
herent right which should be exercised as often as circumstances permitted. They 
w T ere insubordinate and quarrelsome, and the histories of their adventurous lives, even 
those written for the glorification of Kit Carson, Joe Meek, Jim Beckwourth and oth- 
ers, convince us that these men composed the lowest stratum of American society. 
Irving, in one of many similar passages, says : " The arrival of the supplies gave 
the regular finish to the annual revel. A grand outbreak of wild debauch ensued 
among the mountaineers ; drinking, dancing, swaggering, gambling, quarreling and 



126 OBEGON. 

fighting. Alcohol, which, from its portable qualities, containing the greatest quantity 
of fiery spirit in the smallest compass, is the only liquor carried across the mountains, 
is the inflammatory beverage at these carousals, and is dealt out to the trappers at four 
dollars a pint. When inflamed by this fiery beverage, they cut all kinds of mad 
pranks and gambols, and sometimes burn all their clothes in their drunken bravadoes. 
A camp, recovering from one of these riotous revels, presents a serio-comic spectacle ; 
black eyes, broken heads/lack lustre visages." Alcohol was a leading article of mer- 
chandise, and the annual assemblage at the points of rendezvous and the meetings 
with Indians for the purposes of trade, were invariably the scenes of drunken de- 
bauchery like the one described. Many impositions were practiced on the Indians, 
and the men, being irresponsible and without restraint, were guilty of many acts of 
injustice. The Indians learned neither uprightness nor morality from contact with 
them, and had respect only for their bravery. 

On the other hand the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were men, chiefly 
half-breeds and French Canadians, who had been reared in the business, as were their 
fathers before them, and cheerfully submitted to the rigid discipline maintained by the 
company. It was the policy of the company to avoid all trouble with the natives, to 
whom they gave no liquor whatever, and, by just and even generous treatment, bind 
the Indians to them by a community of interest ; yet it never let an act of treachery 
or bad faith go unpunished. Thus, by an exhibition of justness and moral behavior 
on one hand and power on the other, it maintained unquestioned authority among the 
savages of a hundred tribes and over thousands of miles of wilderness. Had the 
American companies pursued the same policy as their great English rival, far different 
would have been the result of their enterprises. Fortunately for America she was not 
compelled to rely upon reckless trappers for her dominion in Oregon. Fur traders 
could not gain it for her, nor could they hold it for Great Britain. Plows and not 
steel traps were to settle the question between them. 

During these years of competition in the fur business, diplomacy was also at 
work. Several expeditions were sent to the Rocky mountains by the United States 
government, to report upon the nature of the country and its adaptability to settlement. 
From these as well as from the reports of trappers, the idea was spread abroad, that 
the country west of the rocky mountains was valueless except for its fur-bearing ani- 
mals ; and this idea was fostered by the Hudson's Bay Company both in America and 
England. The consequence was that when the ten years of joint occupancy had ex- 
pired, such was the apathy of congress and American statesmen on the subject, that 
.an indefinite extension of the treaty was agreed upon, to be terminated by either party 
upon giving notice one year in advance. This was done in 1828, and it was while the 
extended treaty was in force that Bonneville and Wyeth made a practical test of its 
workings. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



OREGON MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. 

Four Flathead Indians in St. Louis — The Methodist Mission— The Congregational Missions— Whitman Takes 
a Cart to Fort Boise— American Settlements— The Wallamette Cattle Company— Progress of Missions and 
Settlements — Advent of Catholic Missionaries — Population in 1840. 

There suddenly appeared in St. Louis in 1832 four Flathead Indians. It was a 
common sight to see Indians of a dozen tribes lounging about the streets of that busy- 
mart and mingling with the conglomerate crowd of idlers ; but these were different. 
They had not come to carouse or drink the white man's firewater. In the far off land 
of Oregon the Flatheads had heard that the white man had a different religion and a 
different God from that of his red brother, and that this was the secret of his knowl- 
edge, wealth and power ; and these four braves had been delegated by their tribe to go 
in search of someone who would teach them this new religion, that they, too, might 
become a mighty people. Two of them died in the city, and the other two set out, de- 
jected, upon their return home without the great book of the white man, and one of 
them perished on the return journey. But their pilgrimage was not fruitless, for both 
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a Congregational organi- 
zation, and the Methodist Board of Missions, were aroused to a knowledge of the fact 
that Oregon was an inviting field for missionary labor. Each delegated suitable per- 
sons to proceed to Oregon and lay the foundation for missions among the natives. 

The Methodists were prepared first, and in 1834, Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. Daniel 
Lee, Cyrus Shepard, and P. L. Edwards started for Oregon in company Avith the 
party of Nathaniel J. Wyeth, previously alluded to. They left Mr. Wyeth's party, 
who were delayed in the erection of Fort Hall, and passed over the remaining distance 
in company with A. B. McLeod and Thomas McKay of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
reaching Fort Walla Walla September 1, and by boats, Vancouver, the fifteenth day 
of the same month. A location for a mission was immediately selected at a jDoint on 
the Willamette river, some sixty miles above its mouth, and ten below the site of Salem. 
Their mission goods, brought around by Wyeth's vessel, landed at this place twenty- 
one days after their arrival at Vancouver. A house was soon constructed of logs, 32 
feet by 18, which they entered November 3, there being at the time but ten feet of the 
roof completed. So eager were they to commence labor as missionaries, that before 
the roof was all on their building, Indian children were received into it as pupils. De- 
cember 14, Jason Lee, while at Vancouver, baptized twenty-one persons, among whom 
were seventeen children ; and he received a donation of twenty dollars to aid in mis- 
sionary work from persons living at the fort. 

They were in Oregon with the sole purpose of elevating the mental and spiritual 
condition of the inhabitants, regardless of nationality, race, color or condition. Be- 






128 OREGON. 

cause of this, they were kindly aud hospitably received by all, including the monster 
corporation. Their plan was to educate the Indian, and teach him how to make the 
soil yield a livelihood. To do this they proposed opening a school for children, where 
they could live, learn to read, worship God, and till the soil. To carry out this design, 
it was necessary for the missionaries to become farmers, and produce the food required 
for themselves and the support of their pupils. The agricultural branch of their en- 
terprise was inaugurated in the spring of 1835. Their first harvest yielded them two 
hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes, a quantity of wheat, barley, oats and peas, to 
which were added six barrels of salmon procured from the Indians. In September of 
this year, the mission people were attacked by an intermittent fever, from which four 
Indian pupils died. This was a misfortune, as it caused the superstitious natives to 
look with mistrust upon an institution where the Great Spirit killed their children in- 
stead of benefiting them. One Indian visited the mission for the purpose of killing 
Daniel Lee and Cyrus Shepard because his little brother had died there, but was pre- 
vented from doing so by a companion, when he crossed to the opposite side of the river 
and murdered several of his own race, to satisfy his wrath at the " white medicines." 
During the fall of 1835, a 16 by 32 foot addition was built to their premises, and the 
close of the year found them with comfortable log buildings, a reasonable supply of 
provisions for the winter and only ten pupils. 

The parties sent by the American Board were Rev. Samuel Parker and Dr. Mar- 
cus Whitman, who started in 1835 with a trap|Ding party of the American Fur Com- 
pany, intent upon selecting some suitable place for the founding of a mission. They 
reached the rendezvous of the company in the Rocky mountains, where they en- 
countered a large band of Nez Perce Indians, who had come there to trade with the 
company. There was a young chief among them, whom the whites called Lawyer, 
because of a marked ability displayed by him in repartee and discussion, which could 
readily be awakened into active play by reflecting upon the acts or motives of his Ameri- 
can friends. Upon consultation with this chief, it was determined to establish a mis- 
sion among his people, this decision being hastened because of the peculiar character- 
istics of the two missionaries, which rendered them ill-calculated for traveling com- 
panions. To carry out this arrangement Dr. Whitman was to return home, accom- 
panied by two Nez Perce boys, and come back the ensuing year with the necessary 
material and associates for an establishment. Rev. Samuel Parker was to continue his 
way to the Pacific ocean, decide upon the best point for a mission among the Nez 
Perces, and then send, by Indian source, a letter of advice, to meet Whitman in the 
mountains on his way out the next season. 

To carry out this arrangement, they separated August 22, 1835, one turning back 
upon the trail that led him to a martyr's grave ; the other, with an interpreter, push- 
ing forward in a triumphal journey among the Indians to the sea. No white man, 
before or since, has been received with such cordiality and ceremonious distinction, as 
greeted Mr. Parker on his way through Eastern Oregon to Walla Walla. His ap- 
proach to an Indian village was the signal for a general display of savage grandeur 
and hospitality. Since their first knowledge of white men they had seen that the pale 
face belonged to a superior race, and had heard that he worshiped a Great Spirit, a 
mysterious unseen power, that made him what he was. The Indians now hoped to 






$.:)'k:iy?yh; 




OREGON. 120 

learn, too, how they could gain favor with this being, whose smiles gave power to his 
followers and happiness to those who worshiped him. Now, when one had come among 
them, who, they believed, could bring them the favor of the white man's God, they 
received him everywhere with outstretched arms and demonstrations of unbounded joy. 
Services were held at various places, and the eager natives were to a degree inducted 
into the mysteries of the white man's religion. 

October 5, Mr. Parker, with his interpreter and guides, passed down the Touchet 
river and reached Fort Walla Walla the next day, where he was hospitably received 
by P. C. Pambrun, the commandant in charge. From there he continued his way 
down the Columbia to Fort Vancouver, where he spent the winter. In the spring he 
revisited the Nez Perces, went as far north as Spokane and Colville, and returning to 
Vancouver embarked for home by way of the Sandwich islands in June, 1836. 

The efforts of Dr. Whitman resulted in his obtaining the necessary funds and as- 
sociates for the establishment of two missions in Oregon. He had married in Febru- 
ary, 1835, Miss Narcissa Prentiss, a lady of refined nature, rare accomplishments and 
with commanding appearance. She possessed a voice of winning sweetness, was 
affable to all with whom she came in contact, firm in purpose and an enthusiast. Her 
sympathies had been enlisted in the cause, and yielding all her fair prospects for the 
future in the country where she was born, she devoted her life to banishment and iso- 
lation among savages, in a country so far away that its name even conveyed to the 
mind a sense of loneliness and mystery. The associate workers were W. H. Gray and 
Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife, a lady of much firmness of character and excellently 
adapted for the labor she had chosen to perform. 

The missionary party brought with them three wagons, eight mules, twelve horses 
and sixteen cows. In those wagons were farming utensils, blacksmith and carpenter 
tools, seeds, clothing, etc., to enable them to become self-supporting. In crossing the 
plains they traveled under protection of the American Fur Company. Sir William 
Drummond, an English nobleman, under the alias of Captain Stewart, with a com- 
panion and three servants, and Major Pilcher, a celebrated mountaineer, were also of 
the party. On arriving at Fort Laramie the wagons were all abandoned except one, 
which was retained by Dr. Whitman for the ladies to ride in, and then the fur com- 
pany concluded to try the experiment of taking one of their carts along. After 
reaching the trappers' rendezvous on Green river, the mission party were introduced 
by Captain Wyeth — who was on his way home after having sold his forts and trap- 
ping interests to the Hudson's Bay Company — to Thomas McKay and A. P. McLeod, 
with whom they were to continue to the Columbia river. Upon resuming the journey, 
the Doctor, contrary to a manifest hostility evinced to his doingso, insisted upon taking 
the one remaining wagon with him, but was obliged on reaching Fort Hall, to reduce 
it to a two-wheel truck, and the men insisted upon his leaving even that when they 
reached Fort Boise. Such was the result of the first effort to cross the continent with 
a wagon, which demonstrated that the Pocky mountains were not an impassable bar- 
rier to American immigration. The party arrived a Fort Walla Walla September 2, 
1836, where they were received by Mr. Pambrun with demonstrations of heartfelt 
cordiality that caused the travel-worn missionaries to feel as though they had reached 
a home in this land of the setting sun. A few days later they passed down the Co- 



130 OREGON. 

lumbia to Fort Vancouver, where Dr. McLaughlin gave them a most hearty welcome. 
Here the ladies enjoyed his hospitalities for some time, while the gentlemen returned 
to Fort Walla Walla to seek suitable locations for their two missionary establishments. 
With the aid of Mr. Pambrun, and after careful examination of the country, they de- 
cided to establish one mission among the Cayuses and one among the Nez Perces. The 
former was located at the junction of Walla Walla river and Mill creek, near the 
present city of W alia Walla, and was called Waiilatpu, the proper name of the Caynse 
tribe, being placed under the direction of Dr. Whitman and his noble wife ; the latter, 
called Lapwai and put in charge of Mr. Spalding and wife, was situated on the Clear- 
water, above the site of Lewiston. By December suitable accommodations were pro- 
vided at both missions and the founders began their labor of love. 

Additions were also made to the force at work in the Methodist mission in the 
Willamette valley. In July, 1836, Elijah White and wife, Alanson Beers and wife, 
W. H. Wilson, Annie M. Pitman, Susan Downing and Elvina Johnson, sailed from 
Boston, but did not reach their destination until May, 1837. The scourge of fever 
still afflicted them, and the mission in consequence bore an ill repute among the natives-, 
in sjnte of the most earnest and conscientious efforts of its people to win the good will 
of those whom they had come so far to benefit. 

The attaches of the missions were not the only Americans that were now living in 
Oregon. From the trappers who had visited the coast, some of them with the Ameri- 
can companies, some as roving " free trappers " and still others in the service of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, knowledge of the beautiful and fertile Willamette and Sacra- 
mento valleys was spread along the American frontier, and the thoughts of many of 
the hardy western peoj)le were turned in this direction. The breaking up of the 
American trapping companies left many mountaineers without an occupation, unless 
they engaged in trapping on their own account, and these men began to find their 
way into California and Oregon for the purpose of building for themselves homes, the 
majority of them, however, going to the former country. At the close of 1836 there 
were some thirty white persons in Oregon not connected with the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, including the missionaries and their wives. 

The presence of these people, in the capacity of settlers, was regarded by the com- 
pany with much disfavor ; not simply because they were Americans, but because the 
settlement of any jDersons whatever, over whom the company had no control, was cal- 
culated to weaken its hold upon the natives. It had been the policy of the company 
to discourage settlements, even of its own employees whose terms of service had expired, 
though it could exercise control over them almost as much as when still in its service ; 
consequently the settlement of Americans beyond the pale of their authority was very 
distasteful. The Methodist missionaries, also, who had been so cordially welcomed by 
the company's officers when it was supposed they were simply to engage in missionary 
work, now that they encouraged these settlers and sided with them against the company, 
were classed in the same category and deprived of the aid of the company's influence. 

In order to be still more independent of the company, Ewing Young, who was 
the leading spirit among the American trappers who had located in the valley, and 
Jason Lee, the missionary, set on foot a scheme to procure a supply of cattle from 
California. The effort was opposed by the company, but with the aid of William A. 



OREGON. 131 

Slocum, an officer of the United States navy, who advanced money and gave a free 
passage to California in his vessel to those who went after the cattle, it was completely 
successful, and the " Wallamette Cattle Company" was organized. The party which 
went to California was under the leadership of Mr. Young, and was composed of P. 
L. Edwards, who kept a diary of the expedition which is now preserved in the State 
Library at Sacramento and numbered 23,989, Hawchnrst, Carmichael, Bailey, Ere- 
quette, DesPau, Williams, Tibbetts, Gay, Wood, Camp, Turner, and enough others to 
make a company of about twenty men, all inured to the dangers and privations of 
mountain life. They collected a band of 700 cattle at three dollars per head, and, 
with much labor and difficulty succeeded in bringing 600 of them into the valley. 
They had much trouble with the Indians on Siskiyou mountain and along Rogue 
river, and Gray, without any foundation charges the company with stirring up the 
Indians to cut them off. The fact is, as Edwards' diary plainly shows, the trouble 
grew out of the unprovoked murder by one of the party of an Indian who visited 
their camp on Klamath river. Turner, Gay and Bailey were three of four survivors 
of an American party which had been attacked on Rogue river two years before, and 
shot this Indian in a spirit of revenge. It is certainly difficult to trace any agency of 
the company in this affair, or to assign any other cause than wanton murder for their 
trouble with the Indians. 

The arrival of the cattle was hailed with joy by the settlers, as it guaranteed 
them complete independence of the company and demonstrated that Americans could 
settle in the Willamette valley with an assurance of being self-supporting. At the 
close of 1837 the independent population of Oregon consisted of forty-nine souls about 
equally divided between missionary attaches and settlers. Of these Rev. David Leslie 
and wife, Rev H. K. W. Perkins and Margaret Smith were new recruits for the Meth- 
odist mission. 

In 1838, W. H. Gray, who had returned East the year before to procure rein- 
forcements for the Congregational missions, came out with Revs. E. Walker, Cushing 
Eells and A. B. Smith and the wives of the four, also a young man named Cornelius 
Rogers and John A. Sutter, the honored pioneer of the Sacramento valley. At Fort 
Hall, Gray's associates were induced to trade the fourteen cows they were bringing 
with them, all of a superior breed, for a like number of cows to be delivered to them 
by the Hudson's Bay Company after reaching their destination. They failed to fully 
appreciate the advantages of that trade until after arriving at Whitman's mission in 
September, where they found that only an expert vaquero could catch one of the wild 
heifers roaming with the herds belonging to the company. 

The Methodists enlarged the field of their missionary labors in the spring of 
1838, by establishing a mission at The Dalles, under the charge of Daniel Lee and H. 
K. AV. Perkins. The Protestant method of benefiting the Indians, aside from merely 
preaching Christianity to them, was to teach them how to live, how to procure food 
and clothing by their own labor intelligently applied, so that they should no longer be 
subjected to alternate seasons of feasting and famine. They thought to make a farmer 
of the Indian, and thus destroy his roving habits. To do this it was necessary that 
those being taught be supported by them until they could be rendered self-sustaining ; 
and this required money. Consequently when it was decided to establish a mission at 



132 OREGON. 

The Dalles, Rev. Jason Lee started East to procure financial aid, accompanied by P, 
L. Edwards, F. Y. Ewing and two Indian boys. During his absence his wife died, 
also Cyrus Shepard, who was teaching the school at the Willamette" mission. 

In 1838 a new element was introduced into Oregon in the form of a delegation of 
Catholic missionaries ; and immediately upon their arrival was begun anew that same 
sectarian rivalry, that battle of religious creeds, which has caused so much of blood- 
shed, horror and misery in the world. Intolerance and bigotry were displayed as much 
by the one side as the other, and responsibility for the terrible results which followed 
their contest for spiritual control of the Indians rests equally upon the shoulders of 
both. Revs. Francis N. Blanchet and Modest Demers reached Vancouver on the 
twenty-fourth of November, having come overland from Montreal, and having bap- 
tized fifty-three persons during their passage down the Columbia. The Congregational 
missions were extended during the year by the establishing of a new one among the 
Spokane Indians by Revs. Cushing Eells and E. Walker. 

During the following year but little advancement was made, either in missionary 
work or settlements. The Catholics traveled extensively among the tribes, while the 
Protestants confined their attention to their various stations. The Indians learned 
that the white man had two ways of going to heaven, and naturally were themselves 
divided in opinion as to which was the better one ; or, as they themselves expressed it, 
all their bad feelings towards each were stirred up, and those quarreled who had be- 
fore been friends. A printing press was presented in 1839 to the Protestant mission- 
aries, by their co-laborers in the Sandwich islands ; and it was taken to Lapwai with 
its accompanying material, and there E. O. Hall and Messrs. Spalding and Rogers used 
it to print portions of the New Testament in the Nez Perce tongue. This was the first 
appearance of the typographic art on the Pacific coast of North America. 

In the latter part of 1839 A. B. Smith located among Ellis' band of Nez Perces 
and began missionary work. The next year he undertook to cultivate a small patch 
of ground, when he was ordered by Ellis to desist upon pain of death. Smith not 
only abandoned his potato patch but his mission as well, and departed for the Sand- 
wich islands. The failure of this effort gave great satisfaction to the Catholics, as is 
indicated by the published writings of Father P. J. DeSmet, who had located a mis- 
sion among the Flatheads the same year. 

In June, 1840, Jason Lee returned with a party of forty-eight, of whom eight 
were clergymen and nineteen ladies. The names of the new arrivals in 1839 were 
Rev. J. S. Griffin and wife and Mr. Mungar and wife, who had intended to found a 
mission on Snake river but had not succeeded, Ben Wright, Lawson, Keiser, Geiger, 
Sidney Smith, Robert Shortess and Blair, a blacksmith. In 1840 the arrivals were 
more numerous. They are thus named and summarized by Gray : 

" In 1840, Mrs. Lee, second wife of Rev. Jason Lee ; Rev- J. H. Frost and wife ; 
Rev. A. F. Waller, wife and two children; Rev. W. W. Kone and wife; Rev. G. Hines, 
wife and sister ; Rev. L. H. Judson, wife and two children ; Rev. J. L. Parish, Avife and 
three children; Rev. G. P. Richards, wife and three children; Rev. A. P. Olley and 
wife. Laymen — Mr. George Abernethy, wife and two children ; Mr. H. Campbell 
wife and one child; Mr. W. W. Raymond and wife; Mr. H. B. Brewer and wife; Dr. 
J. L, Babcock, wife and one child; Mrs. Daniel Lee; Mrs. David Carter; Mrs. 



• ■ ] '%£;::;. v^4>-'- 




■ "■ ■ : 



OREGON. 13:) 

Joseph Holman : Miss E. Phillips. Methodist Episcopal Protestant mission — Rev- 
Harvy Clark and wife ; P. B. Littlejohn and wife. Independent Protestant mission — 
Robert Moore, James Cook and James Fletcher, settlers. Jesuit priests — P. J. DeSmet, 
Flathead mission. Rocky mountain men with native wives: William Craig, Doctor 
Robert Newell, Jos. L. Meek, Geo. Ebbert, William M. Dougherty, John Larison, 
George Wilkinson, a Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Algear and William Johnson, author of 
the novel, 'Leni Leoti; or, the Prairie Flower.' The subject was first written and read 
before the Lyceum at Oregon City, in 1843." He classifies the population as follows : 
American settlers, twenty-five of them with Indian wives, 36 ; American women, 33 ; 
children 32; lay members, Protestant missions 13; Methodist ministers 13; Congrega- 
tional 6; American physicians 3; English physicians 1; Jesuit priests, including 
DeSmet, 3; Canadian French, 60; total Americans, 137; total Canadians, including 
priests, 63; total population, not including Hudson's Bay Company operatives, within 
what now is a portion of Montana and all of Idaho, Washington and Oregon, 200. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 



OREGON FOR THE UNITED STATES. 

First Efforts at Government — Petition to Congress in 1840 — Plans of the Hudson's Bay Company— Unfounded 
Charges against the Company — Unsuccessful Attempt to Organize in 1841 — Visit of Commodore Wilkes — 
The Hudson's Bay Company Imports Settlers from Red River— Visit of Governor Simpson — Whitman's Win- 
ter Journey — The Ashburton Treaty — Emigrants and Wagons for Oregon — Names of Oregon Residents in 
1843 — A Provisional Government Organized — Treaty of 1846 Gives Oregon to the United States. 

In 1839 was made the first atteu^t at any form of government, other than the 
enforced rules of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Methodist missionaries in the 
Willamette valley selected two persons to act as magistrates, and though this was done 
without the co-operation of the settlers the action was acquiesced in and their authority 
respected. The most important case before this tribunal was that of T. J. Hubbard, 
who was tried for murder before Rev. David Leslie, having killed a man who was at- 
tempting to enter his house through the window. The jury acquitted the jjrisoner on 
the grounds of justifiable homicide. In 1840, soon after this event, a petition was 
forwarded to congress, asking the establishment of a territorial government in Oregon, 
which had the effect of drawing attention to this country and of reminding those who 
had formerly thought the Willamette valley a desirable spot for a home that now was 
a good time to emigrate. 

There was still another and more important effect produced by this petition and 
the apparent determination of the American settlers to have a government of their 



134 OREGON. 

own, and that was to arouse the^Hudson's Bay Company to a realization of the pre- 
carious condition of its authority in Oregon. It began to recognize the fact that as a 
company it could not control these new-comers nor could it prevent the influx of others 
who were inimical to its interests. This conviction wrought a change in policy, and 
with it was made a bold stroke to gain possession of the prize. It has been stated that 
the company was opposed to settlements of any kind, preferring that the country 
should remain uninhabited by all save the natives and actual servants of the corpora- 
tion. It had even gone so far as to send to Canada at its own expense employees 
whose terms of service had expired, to prevent them from settling here. It is to 
this policy, wise if all that was desired was to keep this region as a far-bearing wil- 
derness, but very unwise if it was the expectation to gain possession of it for Great 
Britain, that England can charge the loss to her of the disputed territory. Had the 
company from the first planted colonies in the Willamette like those of Lord Selkirk 
at Winnipeg, or had it even encouraged the settlement of its discharged employees, 
there would now have been enough British subjects to have controlled local affairs and 
laid a foundation for a claim of permanent ownership. During the past few years the 
company had been gradually realizing the unpleasant fact that it could not hope to exclude 
settlers, and had therefore withdrawn its objection to the location of permanent homes 
here by its old servants, and, preferring them to the Americans, had even encouraged 
them in so doing ; but now it realized that it must adopt a more comprehensive and 
aggressive policy, it must colonize Oregon with subjects of Great Britain or submit to 
being itself expelled from the country. A deep plan was laid, which, but for the fore- 
sight and energetic patriotism of Dr. Marcus Whitman, would have been completely 
successful ; and this plan was to bring a large emigration from the Red River settle- 
ments to overwhelm the Americans, and at the same time to open negotiations between 
the home governments for a final settlement of the mooted question of title, in which 
the preponderance of English subjects here was to be urged as a reason why Great 
Britain's claim to the country should be conceded. 

There was nothing criminal nor even dishonorable in this ; and yet some Ameri- 
can writers speak of this and other steps of the company to obtain or retain possession 
of Oregon as though they were the most heinous of crimes. The subjects of Great 
Britain certainly had as much right to make an effort for possession as had citizens of 
the United States ; and the actual fact is that they were less active, less aggressive than 
were the Americans, to which is due in a large measure their defeat in the contest. 
Because they made these efforts, parties who were equally active on the other side, 
looking at the matter through their party-colored spectacles, have charged the com- 
pany's officers with the commission of grave crimes, not the least of which was the 
inciting of Indians to murder American settlers. These charges rest upon evidence 
which is entirely inferential and circumstantial, and even of this kind of testimony 
the greater portion is favorable to the company. There is no evidence to prove that 
the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company were guilty of any acts that would not be 
looked upon in any country and by any people as proper and necessary for the pro- 
tection of their interests could they have been placed in the same position. It is 
certainly questionable if some of those gentlemen, whose bitter enmity caused them to 
make these charges, had possessed the great power of the company, whether they 



OREGON. 



135 



would have used it as honorably and conscientiously as did Dr. McLaughlin and his 
associates. It is certain that these narrow-minded views were not entertained by the 
master mind of them all, the martyred Whitman. His brain was large enough to 
keep personality and politics separate, and he honored and respected these men and en- 
joyed their personal friendship even while doing his utmost to defeat their plans. It 
was the active part taken in the struggle by the Protestant missionaries which had lost 
them the support of the company, and caused that organization to encourage and aid 
the Catholics, who, as subjects of Great Britain, could be counted upon to further the 
company'- interests. It was this union of interest and action which was the true 
cause of the bitter enmity of the Protestant historians to the company. The mutual 
intolerance of the two creeds, and the especially bitter spirit engendered by the contest 
for control of the Indians, sufficiently explain why those whose minds were thus edu- 
cated to believe their Catholic opponents could be guilty of fiendish acts, should 
extend their prejudices to the company which supported them. It is time these un- 
founded charges were dropped and prejudice give way to reason. The workings of 
the company's new plan will be unfolded as this narrative progresses, as will also the 
circumstances which have called out these precautionary remarks. 

Although so few white people resided in Oregon at this time, still the objects 
which brought them here had resulted in their division into four classes, with interests 
to a greater or less extent adverse to each other. The Hudson's Bay Company, the 
Catholics, the Protestant missionaries, and the independent settlers, constituted the 
four interests, and they were elements not easy to harmonize. The first two seemed 
to have but the one opinion, though there were a few members of the Catholic church 
who were favorable to American rule. The Methodist mission had served as a rallying 
point for settlers, who cared nothing for the religious creed it represented, their object 
in seeking homes in the Willamette having been to better their worldly condition. 
Such favored the mission influence to the extent only that it served their purpose of 
settling in the country. In February, 1841, Ewing Young died, leaving considerable 
property and no heirs. This naturally raised the question of what was to be done with 
his estate and who was to take charge of it. He was neither a Catholic, a Protestant, 
nor a Hudson's Bay Company employee ; he had only been an American citizen, was 
dead in Oregon, and what was to be done? Had he been one of the company's em- 
ployees it would have attended to the property ; if he had belonged to the Catholic 
family the priests would have taken charge ; if a Methodist, the mission could have 
administered ; but, as he was an outsider, and as no one had the color of right to 
officiate, it became a matter in which all were interested and a cause for public action. 
His funeral occurred on the seventeenth, and after the burial an impromptu meetino- 
was held, at which it was determined to organize a civil government over Oregon, not 
including the portion lying north of the Columbia river. A Committee was to 
constitute the legislative branch of the government ; a governor, a supreme judge 
with probate powers, three justices of the peace, three constables, three road commis- 
sioners, au attorney-general, a clerk of the courts and public recorder, one treasurer 
and two overseers of the poor were to constitute its official machinery. Gentlemen 
were put in nomination for all of these offices and the meeting adjourned until the 



136 OREGON. 

next day, at which time, citizens of the valley were notified to be present at the Amer- 
ican mission house to elect officers, and to perfect the governmental organization. 

At the time and place specified, nearly all the male population south of the Colum- 
bia congregated, the several factions in full force. Most prominent among these was 
the Methodist mission ; second, the Catholics as allies of the Hudson's Bay Company ; 
and third, the independent settlers whose interests were not specially identified with 
either. The j^roceedings of the previous day were not fully indorsed. Two were added 
to the legislative committee, and the following gentlemen were chosen to serve in that 
capacity : Revs. F. N. Blanchet, Jason Lee, Gustavus Hines, Josiah L. Parrish, and 
Messrs. D. Donpierre, M. Charlevo, Robert Moore, E. Lucia, and William Johnson. 
The main point at issue seemed to be, as to which faction should secure the governor- 
ship. Revs. Leslie and Hines, and Dr. J. L. Babcock were the Methodist mission 
candidates and were liable to divide the vote sufficiently to secure the selection of Dr. 
Bailey, a man of strong English prejudices, who was opposed to religion generally, but 
could secure the French Catholics, and a majority of the settlers' votes. He drove the 
latter portion of his support into the opposition ranks, however, by his want of modesty 
in nominating himself for that position. It was finally determined to have no gover- 
nor, and Dr. J. L. Babcock having been chosen supreme judge, was instructed to ren- 
der decisions in matters coining before him in accordance with the New York code. 
This was an order easy to give, but difficult to fulfill, as there was not a New York 
statute book in Oregon at the time. The Methodists having secured the bench, and 
prevented the adverse interests from securing the executive branch of the embryo 
government, the Catholic influence was given a representation in Geo. LeBreton, who 
was made clerk of the court and recorder. Wm. Johnson was chosen from the English 
element for the office of high sheriff, and the following named gentlemen were elected 
constables : Havier Laderant, Pierre Billique, and Wm. McCarty. The offices of 
justice of the peace, road commissioner, attorney general, treasurer and overseer of the 
poor, were not filled. After the transaction of this business, and the issuance of an 
order for the legislative committee to draft a constitution and code of laws, the meeting 
adjourned until the following June. 

On the first of June, the people assembled at the new building near the Catholic 
church in the Willamette, and learned that the committee had failed to either form 
laws, or even meet for that purpose. Rev. F. N. Blanchet withdrew as a member of it, 
and Dr. Bailey was chosen to fill the vacancy. The committee was then ordered to, 
" Confer with the commodore of the American squadron and John McLaughlin, chief 
factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, with regard to forming a constitution and code of 
laws for this community." The meeting then adjourned until the following October. 
In 1838 the United States Government sent out a fleet of vessels, under the command 
of Commodore Charles Wilkes, on an extensive voyage of exploration which lasted five 
years. Wilkes was now in Oregon with the purpose as much of ascertaining the actual 
state of affairs as of gathering geographical and scientific information. The committee 
applied to him for advice, and after visiting the Catholic and Protestant missions and 
consulting with Dr. McLaughlin, the missionaries and settlers, he ascertained that 
though all had participated in the meetings, but a minority, chiefly connected with the 
Methodist missions, were in favor of an organization. He therefore advised them to 



OREGON. m 

wait until they were stronger and until the "government of the United States should 
throw its mantle over them." The committee accepted his advice, the adjourned meet- 
ing never convened, and the attempt at organization was abandoned. 

During 1841 the first regular emigration from the East arrived, consisting of 111 
persons, and these came without wagons, since it was the general belief both in England 
and the United States, that wagons could not cross the continent to Oregon. This idea 
was industriously supported by English authors, several of whom published books on 
Oregon about this time, and was strongly urged as a reason why Oregon should be 
given up to the British. As our statesmen derived their information on this subject 
chiefly from English sources, they held the same views about the inpracticability of 
overland emigration from the United States to Oregon. Sir George Simpson, governor 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, visited the country the same year, crossing overland 
from Montreal. Just east of the Rocky mountains he passed the emigrants the com- 
pany was importing from Red river, consisting of " twenty-three families, the heads 
being generally } r oung and active." They reached Oregon in September, and spent the 
winter on the Cowlitz. During 1841, also, there was the greatest clash yet experienced 
between the rival religions. The Catholics went among the Cascade Indians, w T ho had 
been under the influence of the Methodist mission at The Dalles, and induced them to 
renounce the Protestant for the Catholic creed. This served to intensify the bitterness 
existing between the religious factions. The Catholic missions were rapidly growing 
in power and influence, the Methodist were as rapidly retrograding, while the Congre- 
gational missions in the interior were progressing but slowly. 

There was quite an immigration in 1842. Seventeen families started from Inde- 
pendence in March, with Stephen H. Meek as a guide. At Green river they were 
overtaken by Fitzpatrick's brigade of trappers on the way to Fort Hall, and several of 
the families cut up their wagons and made pack saddles, and packing their effects on 
their animals, accompanied the brigade. The remainder of the wagons Meek conducted 
safely through Sublette's cut-off, reaching Fort Hall the same day as the others, much 
to their surprise. Here, owing to the positive assertions of the company's officers that 
it was impossible to take wagons any further, they were abandoned, and the party pro- 
ceeded without them, passing down Snake river, across the Blue mountains, down the 
Umatilla and Columbia to The Dalles, and by the Mount Hood trail to Oregon City, 
which town was laid out that fall by L. W. Hastings, one of the new emigrants, 
as agent for Dr. McLaughlin. The greater portion of this party, being dissatisfied 
with the rainy winter, were guided to California in the spring by Meek. Among these 
emigrants was Dr. Elijah White, who had authority to act as Indian agent, being the 
first official of the United States government to enter Oregon. 

We now approach the turning point in the long struggle for possession of this 
region, and as in the most popular accounts truth and fiction have been sadly mixed, 
the fiction will be given first and the reality afterwards. Gray's History of Oregon 
says : " In September, 1842, Dr. Whitman was called to visit a patient at old Fort 
Walla Walla. While there a number of boats of the Hudson's Bay Company, with 
several chief traders and Jesuit priests, on their way to the interior of the country, ar- 
rived. While at dinner, the overland express from Canada arrived, bringing news 
that the emigration from the Red river settlement was at Colville. This news excited 

18 



138 OREGON. 

unusual joy among the guests. One of them — a young priest — sang out : ' Hurrah for 
Oregon, America is too late; we have got the country.' 'Now the Americans may 
whistle; the country is ours!' said another. Whitman learned that the company had 
arranged for these Red river English settlers to come on to settle in Oregon, and at the 
same time Governor Simpson was to goto Washington and secure the settlement of the 
question as to the boundaries, on the ground of the most numerous and permanent 
settlement in the country. The Doctor was taunted with the idea that no power could 
prevent this result, as no information could reach Washington in time to prevent it. 
'It shall be prevented,' said the Doctor, 'if I have to go to Washington my self 'But 
you cannot go there to do it,' was the taunting reply of the Briton. ' I will see,' was 
the Doctor's reply. The reader is sufficiently acquainted with the history of this man's 
toil and labor in bringing his first wagon through to Fort Boise, to understand what he 
meant when he said, 'I will see.' Two hours after this conversation at the fort, he dis- 
mounted from his horse at his door at Waiilatpu. I saw in a moment that he was fixed 
on some important object or errand. He soon explained that a special effort must be 
made to save the country from becoming British territory. Everything was in the 
best of order about the station, and there seemed to be no important reason why he 
should not go. A. L. Lovejoy, Esq., had a few days before arrived with the immigra- 
tion. It was proposed that he should accompany the Doctor, which he consented to do, 
and in twenty-four hours' time they were well mounted and on their way to the States." 

Such is the fiction upon which has been founded a most extended controversy, the 
result of which has been to show that Dr. Whitman was moved to take this journey by 
a deep and gradually formed resolution and that long and thoughtful consideration and 
not the sudden impulse ascribed by Gray had led him to form the resolution. That 
this scene depicted by Gray is a pure fiction is evident for several reasons : — First, be- 
cause the Red river immigration was all in and reached the Cowlitz in September, 
1841, as surviving members testify, and there was no emigration from there in 1842 ; 
second, because Archibald McKinlay, who was in charge of the fort and was a warm 
personal friend of Dr. Whitman, says that at the time of the visit spoken of there was 
no one at Walla Walla but the half dozen regular attaches of the fort, and that the 
Montreal express did not arrive until two weeks after Whitman had departed for the 
East, during which time Mrs. Whitman remained his guest and then proceeded down 
the river under its protection; third, because the question of such a journey had been 
discussed by Whitman and his associates at a special meeting for that purpose several 
weeks before and the journey agreed upon and a day set for the departure. Let us 
pass from the realm of fiction to the domain of facts. 

Dr. Whitman was a true American, an enthusiastic patriot and lover of his 
country's institutions. From the time he first set foot in Oregon to the hour of his 
death, the Americanization of this fair land was one of his proudest hopes. Dr. Wil- 
liam C. McKay, son of Thomas McKay, says that in 1838 his father, who was then in 
charge of Fort Hall, decided to send him to Scotland to be educated. When ' they 
reached Waiilatpu, where they were to separate, William to go by the Manitoba route 
and his father to Fort Hall, Dr. Whitman strongly urged McKay to send his son to 
the United States to be educated, and "make an American of him," since Oregon would 
surely belong to the Americans. McKay was convinced, William's destination was 



OREGON. 139 

changed and he proceeded by the way of Fort Hall to the States. He received his 
education at Fairfield, N. Y., where Whitman himself had attended school. This in- 
cident reveals the Doctor's abiding faith in the destiny of Oregon. Gifted with a 
philosophical mind and keen perceptive faculties, he gathered from the visit of Gov- 
ernor Simpson and the arrival of Red river immigrants in 1841, an inkling of the 
plans of the company for acquiring Oregon. His mind dwelt on the subject during 
the following spring and summer, and when the American immigrants arrived that 
fall with intelligence that negotiations were in progress between the United States and 
Great Britain to settle definitely the boundary line, he realized the deep-laid plan of 
the company. With A. Lawrence Lovejoy, one of the immigrants who had stopped 
near the mission to recruit, he often conversed about the situation, and one day asked 
if he would accompany him on a journey back to the States. Though the winter 
season was just coming on, Lovejoy consented to thus aid him in his effort to save Ore- 
gon to the United States. Whitman summoned his associates from Lapwai and the 
Tshimakain mission among the Spokane Indians, to consult in regard to the matter. 
Spalding, Gray, Eells and Walker soon assembled at Waiilatpu, and when the Doctor 
laid before them his plan for saving Oregon, they unanimously opposed it, on the 
ground that missionary work and politics should not be confused with each other. To 
this Whitman replied that his first duty was to his country, and if his mission inter- 
fered with the discharge of it he would resign. Knowing his inflexible character and 
deep convictions of duty, they dared no longer oppose him for fear of losing the 
master spirit of their mission, and gave a reluctant assent. That he might have official 
authority to leave his charge and that the real object of his journey might not be 
known by the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, they delegated him to proceed 
to Boston to transact certain business in the interest of the missions. The day of his 
departure was set for the fifth of October, and the several members departed to their 
fields of labor to prepare reports of their missions for him to take to Boston. The pro- 
ceedings of this meeting were recorded in a book, which was lost at the time of the 
Whitman massacre. The papers having arrived, and all being in readiness for the 
journey, Whitman went to Fort Walla Walla, some authorities say to administer to a 
sick person, while Dr. Geiger, whom Whitman left in charge of Waiilatpu during his 
absence, says that it was to interview McKinlay in regard to the situation. At all 
events, his conversation with McKinlay whetted his anxiety to depart, and he re- 
solved to start at once. Twenty-four hours later he and his traveling companion 
turned their backs upon Oregon and entered boldly upon a journey they knew would 
be attended with hardships and suffering such as they had never before experienced . 
The only record of that memorable journey is a letter written by Mr. Lovejoy, and the 
only accounts of what Whitman did and where he went come from those who con - 
versed with him on the subject and several who saw him at different places in the East 
including the emigrants with whom he returned to Oregon. From the noble martyr 
himself there comes no word, save a letter written while at St. Louis the following 
spring, yet these are enough to place him first on the list of those whose names should 
be linked with Oregon so long as history shall last. Of that memorable journey Love- 
joy says 



140 OREGON. 

" We left Waiilatpu October 3, 1842, traveled rapidly, reached Fort Hall in eleven 
days, remained two days to recruit and make a few purchases. The Doctor engaged a 
guide and we left for Fort Wintee. We changed from a direct route to one more 
southern, through the Spanish country via Salt Lake, Taos and Santa Fe. On our 
way from Fort Hall to Fort Wintee we had terribly severe weather. The snows 
retarded our progress and blinded the trail so we lost much time. After arriving at 
Fort Wintee and making some purchases for our trip, we took a new guide and started 
for Fort Uncumpagra, situated on the waters of Grand river, in the Spanish country. 
Here our stay was very short. We took a new guide and started for Taos. After 
being out some four or five days we encountered a terrific snow storm, which forced us 
to take shelter in a deep ravine, where we remained snowed in for four days, at which 
time the storm had somewhat abated, and we attempted to make our way out upon the 
high lands, but the snow was so deep and the winds so piercing and cold we were 
compelled to return to camp and wait a few days for a change of weather. Our next 
effort to reach the high lands was more successful ; but after spending several days 
wandering around in the snow without making much headway, our guide told us that the 
deep snow had so changed the face of the country that he was completely lost and could 
take us no further. This was a terrible blow to the Doctor but he was determined not 
to give it up without another effort. We at once agreed that the Doctor should take 
the guide and return to Fort Uncumpagra and get a new guide, and I remain in camp 
with the animals until he could return ; which he did in seven days with our new 
guide, and we were now on our route again. Nothing of much import occurred but 
hard and slow traveling through deep snow until we reached Grand river, which was 
frozen on either side about one-third across. Although so intensely cold, the current 
was so very rapid about one-third of the river in the center was not frozen. Our guide 
thought it would be dangerous to attempt to cross the river in its present condition, but 
the Doctor, nothing daunted, was the first to take the water. He mounted his horse — 
the guide and myself shoved the Doctor and his horse off the ice into the foaming 
stream. Away he went completely under water, horse and all, but directly came up, 
and after buffeting the rapid, foaming current he reached the ic? on the opposite shore 
a long way down the stream. He leaped from his horse u. >a the ice and soon had 
his noble animal by his side. The guide and myself forced n the pack animals and 
followed the Doctor's example, and were soon on the opposite shore drying our frozen 
clothes by a comfortable fire. We reached Taos in about thirty days, suffered greatly 
from cold and scarcity of provisions. We were compelled to use mule meat, dogs, and 
such other animals as came in our reach. We remained at Taos a few days only, and 
started for Bent's and Savery's Fort, on the head waters of the Arkansas river. When 
we had been out some 15 or 20 days, we met George Bent, a brother of Gov. Bent, 
on his way to Taos. He told us that a party of mountain men would leave Bent's Fort 
in a few days for St. Louis, but said we would not reach the fort with our pack ani- 
mals in time to join the party. The Doctor being very anxious to join the party so 
he could push on as rapidly as possible to Washington, concluded to leave myself and 
guide with the animals, and he himself taking the best animal with some bedding and 
a small allowance of provision, started alone, hoping by rapid travel to reach the fort 
in time to join the St, Louis party, but to do so he would have to travel on the Sab- 



OREGON. 141 

hath, something we had not done before. Myself and guide traveled on slowly and 
reached the fort in four days, but imagine our astonishment when on making inquiry 
about the Doctor we were told that he had not arrived nor had he been heard of. I 
learned that the party for St. Louis was camped at the Big Cottonwood, forty miles 
from the fort, and at my request Mr. Savery sent an express, telling the party not to 
proceed any further until we learned something of Dr. Whitman's whereabouts, as he 
wished to accompany them to St. Louis. Being furnished by the gentlemen of the 
fort with a suitable guide I started in search of the Doctor, and traveled up the river 
about one hundred miles. I learned from the Indians that a man had been there who 
was lost and was trying to find Bent's Fort. They said they had directed him to go 
down the river and how to find the fort. I knew from their description it was the 
Doctor. I returned to the fort as rapidly as possible, but the Doctor had not arrived. 
We had all become very anxious about him. Late in the afternoon he came in very 
much fatigued and desponding ; said that he knew that God had bewildered him to 
punish him for traveling on the Sabbath. During the whole trip he was very regular 
in his morning and evening devotions, and that was the only time I ever knew him to 
travel on the Sabbath." 

He at once j>ushed on with the mountaineers, leaving Lovejoy at Bent's Fort, 
and reached St. Louis in February. There lie inquired eagerly about the status of ne- 
gotiations on the Oregon question, and learned that the Ashburton- Webster treaty had 
been signed on the ninth of the preceding August, been ratified by the senate, and had 
been proclaimed by the president on the tenth of Xovember. He was too late by more 
than three months to have prevented the treaty ; but his journev was not in vain, for 
the Oregon boundary had notb?eu included in the treaty, had not even been discussed, 
in fact, as appears from Mr. Webster's speeches and correspondence. This intelligence 
brought relief to the Doctor's overwrought feelings. There was still an opportunity 
for him to accomplish his purpose. He found great preparations being made all along 
the frontier to emigrate to the Willamette valley, notwithstanding the prevailing opinion 
that wagons could not proceed beyond Fort Hall. He immediately wrote a small 
pamphlet describing Oregon and the nature of the route thither, urging people to em- 
igrate and assuring them that wagons could go through, and that he would join them 
and be their pilot. This pamphlet and his earnest personal appeals were efficacious in 
adding; somewhat to the number of emigrants, though it is a fact that probably the 
greater portion of those who started from the border of Missouri in May never heard 
of Dr. Whitman until he joined them on the route ; for the emigration was chiefly 
the result of the reports of Oregon received from trappers, letters written to friends in 
Missouri by Robert Shortess, who came out in 1839, and debates in congress the year 
before. That Whitman's efforts added somewhat to the number of emigrants is true, 
but that he initiated the movement or even contributed largely to it does not appear. 
He was too late for that; the movement was well under way before his arrival. 

After writing his pamphlet his next anxiety was to reach Washington before con- 
gress adjourned, so that he might have an opportunity to meet congressmen and urge 
upon them the claims of Oregon. He did not undertake to change his apparel, which 
is thus described by Dr. William Barrows, who met him in St. Louis : " The Doctor 
was in coarse fur garments and vesting, and buckskin breeches. He wore a buffalo 



142 OREGON. 

coat, with a head-hood for emergencies in taking a storm, or a bivouac nap. What 
with heavy fur leggings and boot moccasins, his legs filled up well his Mexican stirrups. 
With all this warmth and almost burden of skin and fur clothing, he bore the marks 
of the irresistible cold and merciless storms of his journey. His fingers, ears, nose 
and feet had been frost-bitteu, and were giving him much trouble." Such was Whit- 
man when in St. Louis, such was he still when on the third of March he appeared in 
Washington, having been to Ithica, New York, to ask for the co-operation of Dr. 
Samuel Parker, his first missionary associate, and such was he still later in Boston, 
where he treated the rebukes of the officers of the American Board with a quiet con- 
tempt that astonished and disarmed them. 

He found in Washington that the prevalent ideas of Oregon were far different 
from those along the frontier. Public men possessed but little knowledge of the terri- 
tory west of the Rocky mountains, and deemed it of but little value because of its sup- 
posed sterile soil and inhospitable climate. Such had been the prevailing idea since 
Lewis and Clarke had subsisted on dog meat and Hunt's party had experienced such 
terrible privations in passing through it; such, also, was the idea fostered by the Hud- 
son's Bay Company and urged by England. It was the Great American Desert, fit 
only for the abode of Indians and trappers. A year later in a congressional debate it 
was asserted that: "With the exception of the land alongt he Willamette and strips 
along a few of the water courses, the whole country is among the most irreclaimable 
barren wastes of which we have read, except the desert of Sahara. Nor is this the 
worst of it. The climate is so unfriendly to human life that the native population has 
dwindled away under the ravages of its malaria to a degree which defies all history to 
furnish a parallel in so wide a range of country." 

To prove the contrary of this and to demonstrate that Oregon could be settled by 
emigration from the States was Whitman's task. He had interviews with Secretary 
Webster, President Tyler and many members of congress, in which he urged the im- 
portance of securing for the United States as much of the indefinite region known as 
Oregon as possible, asserting that its agricultural and timber resources were unbounded. 
He told them of the large emigration preparing to start thither, and declared that he 
would accompany them and show them a route by which they could take wagons clear 
to the Willamette. His earnest protestations made a deep impression upon many, 
especially President Tyler, and he was assured that if he could demonstrate these 
things it would have a powerful effect upon the solution of the Oregon question. 

Whitman then visited Boston to discharge the official object of his journey, and 
was severely censured for leaving his mission upon so trivial a pretext. Then, after 
spending a few days at home, he hastened to the frontier to join the emigrants, some of 
whom had already started and were not overtaken by him till they had reached the 
Platte. His appearance among them Avas the first time the majority of them knew of 
the existence of such a man ; yet even these universally acknowledge that his services 
as guide and advisor on the route were almost indispensable. Reaching Fort Hall the 
earnest representations made by the official in charge that wagons could not cross the 
mountains between that post and the Columbia had a most demoralizing effect. Had 
it not been for Whitman many would have changed their destination to California, 
while the remainder, leaving their wagons, plows and implements behind, would have 



OREGON. 143 

continued the journey to Oregon with only what they could pack upon their animals. 
Earnestly he pleaded with them, assured them that he would guide them safely through, 
that they had found his counsel good in the past and should trust him for the future. 
They did trust him; the wagons passed on, and after surmounting every obstacle he 
led them to the open plain in front of the mission at Waiilatpu. He had won the day 
for his country. 

This great train of hardy pioneers who had come to Americanize Oregon, con- 
tained 875 persons, of whom 295 were men over sixteen years of age. A complete 
roll of names was taken at the time by J. W. Nesmith, and is as follows : 

Jesse Applegate, Charles Applegate, Lindsay Applegate, James Athey, William 
Athey, John Atkinson, William Arthur, Robert Arthur, David Arthur, Amon But- 
ler, George Brooke, Peter H. Burnett, David Bird, Thomas A. Brown, Alexander 
Blevins, John P. Brooks, Martin Brown, Oris Brown, J. P. Black, Layton Bane, 
Andrew Baker, John G. Baker, William Beagle, Levi Boyd, William Baker, Nich- 
olas Biddle, George Beale, James Braidy, George Beadle, Boardman, William 

Baldridge, F. C. Cason, James Cason, William Chapman, John Cox, Jacob Champ, 
L. C. Cooper, James Cone, Moses Childers, Miles Carey, Thomas Cochran, L. Clymour, 
John Copenhaver, J. H. Caton, Alfred Chappel, Daniel Cronin, Samuel Cozine, 
Benedict Costable, Joseph Childs, Hansom Clark, John G. Campbell, Chap- 
man, James Chase, Solomon Dodd, William C. Dement, W. P. Dougherty, William 
Day, James Duncan, Jacob Dorin, Thomas Davis, Daniel Delaney, Daniel Delaney, 
Jr., William Delaney, W illiam Doke, J. H. Davis, Burrell Davis, George Dailey, 

John Doherty, Dawson, Charles Eaton, Nathan Eaton, James Etchell, 

Solomon Emerick, John W. Eaker, E. G. Edson, Miles Eyres, John W. East, 
Niniwon Everman, Ninevah Ford, Ephram Ford, Nimrod Ford, John Ford, 
Alex. Francis, Abner Frazier, William Frazier, William Fowler, William J. 
Fowler, Henry Fowler, Stephen Fairly, Charles Fendall, John Gantt, Chiley B. Gray, 
Enoch Garrison, J. W. Garrison, W. J. Garrison, William Gardner, Samuel Gardner, 

Mat. Gilmore, Richard Goodman, Major Gilpin, Gray, B. Haggard, H. H. Hide, 

William Holmes, Riley A. Holmes, John Hobson, William Hobson, J. J. Hembre, 
James Hembree, Andrew Hembre, A. J. Hembre, Samuel B. Hall, James Houk, 
William P. Hughes, Abijah Hendrick, James Hays, Thomas J. Hensley, B. Holley, 
Henry Hunt, S. M. Hqlderness, Isaac Hutchins, A. Husted, Josej^h Hess, Jacob 
Hann, John Howell, William Howell, Wesley Howell, W. G. Howell, Thomas E. 
Howell, Henry Hill, William Hill, Almoran Hill, Henry Hewett, William Hargrove, 
A. Hoyt, John Holman, Daniel Holman, B. Harrigas, Calvin James, John B. Jack- 
son, John Jones, Overton Johnson, Thomas Keyser, J. B. Keyser, Pleasant Keyser 

Kelley, Kelsey, A. L. Lovejoy, Edward Lenox, E. Lenox, Aaron Layson, 

Jesse Looney, John E. Long, H. A. G. Lee, F. Lugur, Lew Linebarger, John 
Linebarger, Isaac Laswell, J. Loughborough, Milton Little, Luther, John Lau- 
derdale, McGee, William J. Martin, James Martin, Julius Martin, Mc- 
Clelland, F. McClelland, John B. Mills, Isaac Mills, William A. Mills, Owen 
Mills, G. W. McGarey, Gilbert Mondon, Daniel Matheny, Adam Matheny, J. K 
Matheny, Josiah Matheny, Henry Matheny, A. J. Mastire, John McHaley, Jacob 
Myers, John Manning, James Manning, M. M. McCarver, George McCorcle, Wil- 



144 OREGON. 

liam Mays, Elijah Millican, William McDaniel, D. McKissic, Madison Malone, 
John B. MeClane, William Mauzee, John Mclntire, John Moore, W. J. Matney, J.W. 
Nesmith, W. T. Newby, Noah Newman, Thomas Nayler, Neil Osborn, Hugh D. 
O'Brien, Humphrey O'Brien, Thomas A. Owen, Thomas Owen, E. W. Otie, M. B. 
Otie, Bennett O'Neil, A. Olinger, Jesse Parker, William Parker, J. B. Penningtou, P. 
H. Poe, Samuel Painter J. P. Patterson, Charles E. Pickett, Frederick Prigg, Clayborn 
Paine, P. B. Beading, S. P. Rodgers, G. W. Rodgers, William Russell, James Roberts, 
G. W. Rice, John Richardson, Daniel Richardson, Philip Ruby, John Ricord, Jacob 
Reid, John Roe, Solomon Roberts, Emseley Roberts, Josej)h Rossin, Thomas Rives, 
Thomas H. Smith, Thomas Smith, Isaac W. Smith, Anderson Smith, Ahi Smith, Robert 
Smith, Eli Smith, William Sheldon, P. G. Stewart, Dr. Nathaniel Sutton, C. Stimmer- 

man, C. Sharp, W. C. Summers, Henry Sewell, Henry Stout, George Sterling, 

Stout, Stevenson, James Story, Swift, John M. Shively, Samuel Shirley, 

Alexander Stoughton, Chauncey Spencer, Hiram Strait, George Summers, Cornelius 
Stringer, C. W. Stringer, Lindsey Tharp, John Thompson, D. Trainor, Jeremiah Teller, 
Stephen Tarbox, John Umnicker, Samuel Vance, William Vaughn, George Vernon, 
James Wilmont, William H. Wilson, J. W. Wair, Archibald Winkle, Edward Williams, 
H. Wheeler, John Wagoner, Benjamin Williams, David Williams, William Wilson, 
John Williams, James Williams, Squire Williams, Isaac Williams, T. B. Ward, James 
White, John (Betty) Watson, James Waters, William Winter, Daniel Waldo, David 
Waldo, William Waldo, Alexander Zachary, John Zachary. 

Add to these the following settlers residing here when the others arrived : 

Pleasant Armstrong, Hugh Burns, Brown, William Brown, - Brown, 

J. M. Black, William Baldra, James Balis, Dr. W. J. Bailey, Brainard, Medo- 

rem Crawford, David Carter, Samuel Campbell, Jack Campbell, William Craig, Amos 

Cook, Aaron Cook, Conner, William Cannon, Allen Davy, William Doty, 

Richard Eakin, Squire Ebbert, John Edwards, Philip Foster, John Force, James 

Force, Francis Fletcher, George Gay, Joseph Gale, Girtman, Felix Hathaway, 

Peter H. Hatch, Thomas Hubbard, Adam Hewitt, Jeremiah Horegon, Joseph Holman, 

David Hill, Weberly Hauxhurst, Hutchinson, William Johnson, King, 

Kelsey, Reuben Lewis, G. W. LeBreton, Jack Larrison, Joseph L. Meek, F. 

X. Mathieu, John McClure, S. W. Moss, Robert Moore, McFadden, William 

McCarty, Charles McKay, Thomas McKay, Morrison, J. W. Mack, 

Newbanks, Robert Newell, James A. O'Neil, F. W. Pettygrove, Dwight Pomeroy, 

Walter Pomeroy, Perry, Rimmick, Osborn Russell, J. R. Robb, Robert 

Shortess, Sidney Smith, Smith, Andrew Smith, Andrew Smith, Jr., Darling 

Smith, Spence, Jack Sailor, Joel Turnham, Turner, Hiram Taylor, Cal- 
vin Tibbetts, Trask, C. M. Walker, Jack Warner, A. E. Wilson, David 

Winslow, Caleb Wilkins, Henry Wood, B. Williams. 

Also add the following members of Protestant missions : 

Dr. Marcus Whitman, A. F. Waller, David Leslie, Hamilton Campbell, George 
Abernethy, William H. Wilson, L. H. Judson, W. H. Gray, E. Walker, Cushing 
Eells, Alanson Beers, Jason Lee, Gustavus Hines, H. K. W. Perkins, M. H. B. Brewer, 
Dr. J. L. Babcock, Dr. Elijah White, Harvey Clark, H. H. Spalding, J. L. Parrish, 
H. W. Raymond. 



ppm 







WALL1N3. LITH. PORTLAND, OK. 



H. Gate's Flouring Mill, Roseburg. 



Z33 

m 

V3 

o 
m 

z 

CT 

n 

a 



en 

> 

m 
w 

a 

CO 

m 

03 

c 

30 

•n 

en 
a 
c 
Si 

r- 
> 
en 

o 




OREGON. 145 

The above list includes nearly every male resident of Oregon in 1843, exclusive 
of the ex-employees of the Hudson's Bay Company and those still in its service. 

On the heels of the emigrant train, came the exploring party of Lieutenant John 
C. Fremont, who had explored the Rocky mountains the year before. After spending 
a few days at Vancouver, he passed south, crossed the Cascades to Eastern Oregon, 
continued south into Nevada, and then with much labor and suffering, crossed the snow- 
bound Sierra Nevada to Sutter's Fort in the Sacramento valley. Though he earned 
the title of Pathfinder, he found his way to Oregon clearly marked by the wheels of 
the wagons that had preceded him. 

Early in 1843 the effort to organize a provisional government was renewed by the 
American settlers, who were unaware of the great reinforcements already on the way 
to join them. Even the missionaries were not trusted in the primitive councils and 
o i i3ration5 of the organizers. The known hostility of every interest in Oregon to a 
government not under control of such interest, caused the settlers to plan with great 
caution and execute with extreme care. It became necessary for them to deceive every, 
one, except a select few, in regard to their designs, in order to obtain a meeting of the 
settlers under circumstances that would not arouse the suspicion of those adverse to 
such action, and array them in active hostility. The number and influence of such 
were sufficient, when combined, to strangle the movement at its birth, A singular de- 
vice was resorted to. Wild animals had been destroying the young stock, and those 
who were wealthiest suffered most from such depredations. The Methodist mission- 
aries and Hudson's Bay Company were consequently more anxious than the other 
settlers to be relieved of this scourge. There was but one sentiment, every one wished 
the depredators exterminated, and to do it necessitated a united action, an assembling 
of the people, and an organized movement. 

The conspirators circulated a notice calling upon residents to meet for this pur- 
pose at the house of W. H. Gray on the second of February, 1843. The meeting took 
place and a committee of six was chosen to perfect a plan for exterminating wolves- 
bears and panthers, and then call a general meeting of the settlers to whom their con- 
clusions were to be submitted. That committee consisted of W. H. Gray, William 

H. Wilson, Alanson Beers, Joseph Gervais, a Rocky mountain hunter named 

Barnaby, and a Frenchman named Lucie, who had formerly been a member 

of Astor's expedition. With the appointment of this committee, and a general ex- 
change of views upon the subject of wolves, bears, panthers, and the best way to get 
rid of their destructive raids upon stock, the meeting adjourned till the first Monday 
in March, when the people were to meet at the house of Joseph Gervais. At the ad- 
journed meeting, after the organization had been completed, one of the gentlemen 
present addressed the settlers, stating that no one would question for a moment the 
rightfulness of the proceedings just completed; it was a just, natural action taken by 
the people to protect their live stock from being destroyed by wild animals ; but while 
they were so solicitous about their stock, would it not be a wise thing to take steps for 
the protection of themselves and their families. The result of this speech was the ap- 
pointment of J. L. Babcock, Elijah White, James A. O'Neil, Robert Shortess, Robert 
Newell, Lucie, Joseph Gervais, Thomas Hubbard, C. McRoy, W. H. Gray, 



146 OREGON. 



Smith and George Gay, as a committee to consider the propriety of organizing a 



government. 



The committee soon met at Oregon City, many others being present, and a lively 
discussion ensued. Rev. Jason Lee, George Abernethy, Revs. Leslie and Hines, and 
Mr. Babcock, took strong grounds against the movement and declared in favor of a 
delay of four years. By striking the office of governor from the list, a unanimous 
vote was secured to call a meeting on the second of May. At the appointed time the 
people assembled, the two factions being almost equal in strength, being fifty-two 
Americans in favor of organization against fifty, chiefly Hudson's Bay Company men, 
opposed to it. Like Cameron, the great ex-boss of Pennsylvania politics, who said 
that a majority of one was all the majority he cared for, the Americans were satisfied 
with a majority of two, and proceeded with the work of organizing, their opponents 
leaving in disgust. The result of this action was the following organization : 

Legislative Committee — Robert Shortess, Robert Newell, Alanson Beers, W. H. 
Gray, James A. O'Neil, Thomas Hubbard, David Hill, Robert Moore, William 
Dougherty. Supreme Judge with probate powers — A. E. Wilson. Clerk and Re- 
corder — George W. LeBreton. Sheriff — Joseph L. Meek. Treasurer, W. H. Wilson. 
Magistrates — A. B. Smith, Hugh Burns, Compo and L. H. Judson. Con- 
stables — Squire Ebbert, Bridgers, Reuben Lewis and F. X. Mathieu. Major — 

John Howard. Captains — William McCarty, C. McRoy and S. Smith. 

The committee was instructed to report on the fifth of July at Champoeg. At 
the time appointed the committee made its report, which was adopted, in which the 
laws of Iowa were declared in force so far as they applied, and the executive manage- 
ment of the government entrusted to a committee of three instead of a governor. For 
this committee, David Hill, Alanson Beers and Joseph Gale were chosen, and at last 
the American settlers in Oregon had a government. The struggle was over, for the 
great emigration which a few weeks later came in with Whitman settled the question 
of American supremacy and the stability of the newly organized government. 

The first regular election was held May 14, 1844, to choose officers of the provis- 
ional government, at which 200 votes were cast. P. G. Stewart, Osborn Russell and 
W. J. Bailey were chosen executive committee ; Dr. John E. Long, clerk and re- 
corder; James L. Babcock, supreme judge; Philip Foster, treasurer; Joseph L. 
Meek, sheriff. The territory had been partitioned into four legislative districts. The 
Tualatin district included what now is Washington, Multnomah, Columbia, Clatsop 
and Tillamook counties, and the persons chosen to represent it were Peter H. Burnett, 
afterwards governor of California, David Hill, M. Gilmore and M. M. McCarver. The 
Champoeg district, which has since been divided into Linn, Marion, Lane, Josephine, 
Coos, Curry, Benton, Douglas and Jackson counties, was represented by Robert Newell, 
Daniel Waldo and Thomas D. Keizer. In the Clackamas district was what is now 
the eastern part of Oregon, a portion of Montana, and all of Idaho and Washington 
territories. This immense region with its few settlers was represented by A. L. Love- 
joy, Whitman's companion in 1842. The legislative committee elected met at the 
house of Felix Hathaway, June 18, 1844, and chose M. M. McCarver speaker of the 
house. A nine days' session followed, when they adjourned until December of the 
same year. On the 16th of December the legislative committee met again, this time 



OREGON. 147 

at the house of J. E. Long in Oregon City, when a message was submitted to them 
from the executive committee, in which an amendment of the organic law was rec- 
ommended. A seven days' session followed, during which an act was passed calling 
for a committee to frame a constitution. Several acts were passed requiring submis- 
sion to a popular vote to render them valid, among which was a change from the tri- 
umvirate to gubernatorial executive, and from a legislative committee to a legislature, 
which was adopted by the people. 

The immigration of 1844 consisted of 800 people, of whom 235 were able-bodied 
men. The following list contains the names of the greater portion of them : 

Alderman, Bird, Nathan Buzzard, Charles Burch, Robert Boyd, 

William Black, Blakely, George W. Bush, Thomas Boggs, William BoAvman, 

Sr., William Bowman, Jr., Ira Bowman, Elijah Bunton, Joseph Bunton, William Bun- 
ton, Charles Buich, Capt. C. Bennett, Francis Bordran, Joseph Bartrough, William 
Bray, Nathan Bayard, Adam Brown, Peter Bonnin, David Crawford, Lewis Crawford, 

Daniel Clark, Dennis Clark, Clemens, James Cave, Joel Crisman, Gabriel 

Crisman, William Crisman, Aaron Chamberlain, Patrick Conner, Samuel B. Crockett, 

Wm. M. Case, William Clemens, Dougherty, Doty, Jas .Davenport, Dr. 

Dagon, Daniel Durban, Edward Dupuis, C. Emery, Moses Edes, C. Everman, John 
Eades, Abr. Eades, Henry Eades, Clark Eades, Solomon Eades, David Evans, N. D. Evans, 
Robert Eddy, Jno. Ellick, Jno. Fleming, Nathaniel Ford, Mark Ford, Jas. Fruit, "Doc" 
Fruit, Jenny Fuller, I. N. Gilbert, David Goff, Samuel Goff, Marion Goff, David Grant, 
Mitchell Gilliam, Cornelius Gilliam, Smith Gilliam, Wm. Gilliam, Porter Gilliam, Wm. 

Gage, Jesse Gage, W. H. Goodwin, — Gillespie, James Gerrish, Jno. Gerrish, Martin 

Gillahan, William Gillahan, Charles Gilmore, Alanson Hinman, A. F. Hedges, Jacob 
Hutton, Fleming Hill, J. C. Hawley, Jacob Hoover, T. Holt, James Harper, Joseph 
Holman, John Howard, James Hunt, Norris Humphrey, Jacob Hammer, Herman 
Higgins, William Higgins, George Hibler, John Inyard, Abr. Inyard, Peter Inyard, 
William Johnson, James Johnson, David Johnson, Daniel Johnson, James Johnson. 
John Jackson, David Jenkins, William Jenkins, Henry Jenkins, David Kindred, Bart, 
Kindred, John Kindred, Daniel Kinney, Barton Lee, John Lousenaute, Charles Lewis, 
William Morgan, Theophilus McGruder, Ed. McGruder, John Minto, Joshua McDaniel, 

Elisha McDaniel, Mrs. McDaniel, McMahan, Nehemiah Martin, Samuel McSwain, 

James McAllister, R. W. Morrison, Michael Moor, James W. Marshall, LafeMoreland, 

Westley Mulkey, Luke Mulkey, Murray, Mudgett, George Neal, Attey. Neal, 

Calvin Neal, Robert Neal, Alex. Neal, Peter Neal, George Nelson, Cyrus Nelson, 
John Nichols, Frank Nichols, Benjamin Nichols, Ruel Owless, Henry Owens, James 
Owens, John Owens, John Owens, Joel Perkins, Sr., Joel Perkins, Jr., John Perkins, 

David Parker, Priest, Joseph Parrot, S. Packwood, T. Packwood, R. K. Payne, 

William Prather, Theodore Prather, Eaben Pettie, Aniab Pettie, J. Rowland, E. Rob- 
inson (Mountain), T. G. Robinson (Fatty), Ben Robinson, Willard H. Rees, Parton 

Rice, Mac Rice, Rice (Old Man), Ramsey, Ramsdell, Franklin Sears, 

Jackson Shelton, William Sebring, John Scott, Levi Scott, M. T. Simmons, 

Springer, J. S. Smith, Charles Smith, Peter Smith, William Smith, Noyes Smith, 
Texas Smith, Henry Saffron, Big Sis, James Stewart, William Saunders, Joshua Shaw, 
A. C. R. Shaw (Sheep), Wash. Shaw, Thomas Shaw,B. F. Shaw, Capt. William Shaw, 



148 OREGON. 

James Stephens, Sager (died on Green river ), Charles Saxton, Vincent Snelling, 

Benjamin Snelling, Snooks, Jerry Teller, Sebrin Thornton, O. S. Thomas, John 

Thorp, Alvin Thorp, Theodore Thorp, Mortimer Thorp, Milton Thorp, Cooper Y. 
Trues, Benjamin Tucker, Long Tucker, Thomas Vance (died on the Platte), George 

Waunch, Poe Williams, Williams, Harrison Wright, Richard Woodcock, James 

Welsh, James Walker, Sr., James Walker, Jr., Robert Walker, Henry Williamson 
Joseph Watt, Warmbough, Thomas Werner. 

At the election held June 3, 1845, a total of 504 votes were cast, and George 
Abernethy was chosen the first governor of Oregon. The other officers were, John E. 
Long, secretary; Francis Ermatinger, treasurer; J. W. Nesmith, judge; Marcus Ford, 
district attorney ; S. W. Moss, assessor ; Joseph L. Meek, sheriff. Two new districts, or 
as they were subsequently called, counties, were created, being Clatsop and Yamhill. 
A new code of laws was framed by the legislature then .elected, and was adopted by the 
people by a vote of 255 to 52. A memorial to congress was then adopted, praying for 
the formation of a regular territorial government, which was carried to ashington by 
Dr. E. White. The legislature also created Polk and Lewis counties, the latter em- 
bracing all of Washington west of the Cascade mountains. Joseph L. Meek, the sheriff, 
was instructed to take a census of the population. By this it appears that there were 
2,110 people in Oregon, 1,259 males and 851 females. 

A train of 480 wagons and some 3,000 people crossed the plains in 1845, guided 
by Stephen H. Meek, a brother of the sheriff, the same who had taken the wagons to 
Fort Hall in 1842. At Fort Hall about one-third severed themselves from the train 
and went to California, being under the command of William B. Ide, of bear flag 
notoriety, and guided by Greenwood, the trapper. Meek undertook to guide them by 
a new route across the Blue and Cascade mountains, a route over which he had never 
passed. He lost his way and the emigrants started out on their own responsibility. 
The majority of them by a terrible struggle, succeeded in passing down John Day 
river to the Columbia. Even this episode has been seized upon by the anti-Hudson's 
Bay Company men, and the charge made that Meek was employed by the company 
to cause the destruction of this train in the mountains. The fact is that if the emi- 
grants had only trusted him a few days longer, the guide would have fulfilled all the 
promises he made them. As it was they came near hanging him, and he is roundly 
abused by the survivors of the train even to the present day. 

The Hudson's Bay Company was enjoying a thriving trade with the emigrants 
passing by their posts at Fort Hall, Boise and Walla Walla, especially in purchasing 
for almost nothing the worn out cattle, or taking them in exchange for wild cattle 
which were to be delivered by the chief factor at Vancouver. The feeling against the 
company was very bitter ; and a number of men who had settled in the extreme 
southern end of the Willamette valley, among whom Jesse and Lindsay Applegate 
were leading spirits, determined to open a new route to Oregon from Fort Hall. 
They organized a small party, which passed through Umpqua and Rogue river val- 
leys, along Klamath, Tule and Goose lakes, and across northern Nevada to Fort Hall, 
where were found a large number of emigrants, numbering 2,000 souls and having 470 
teams and 1,050 cattle. About one-half the number passed down the Humboldt to Cali- 
fornia, in separate trains, among which was the Donner party, of whom so many 



OREGON. 14D 

perished in the mountains. Of the remainder the greater portion followed the old 
trail down Snake river and reached their destination after encountering the usual 
hardships of the trip. A train of 150 people with forty-two wagons tried the new 
route and found it a long one, almost devoid of grass and water until they reached 
Goose lake. They suffered severely and their cattle, half-starved and feeble, could 
scarcely pull the wagons along; nor was this the end, for upon reaching the canyon 
of the Umpqua mountains they found it almost impossible to proceed and many of 
them remained a long time in the mountain fastness, themselves and their stock in a 
deplorable condition, while others only reached the Willamette by abandoning every- 
thing. Much abuse has been heaped upon the heads of the men who induced the 
emigrants to try this new route, but it is evidently undeserved, at least so far as it im- 
putes to them unworthy motives. They passed over the route on horseback and evi- 
dently did not realize how more frequent grass and watering places must be for a train 
of wagons than for horsemen. However, this route through Nevada was a few years 
later used by thousands of emigrants entering Northern California and Southern 
Oregon, though, of course, the good camping places were well known by that time. 
As for the Umpqua canyon, wagons were taken through it by Stephen H. Meek in 
1843, and would have been easily passable by this party had their stock been strong, in- 
stead of being barely able to stand upon their feet, such, at least, as were not lying on 
the burning alkali deserts of Nevada. There has been too much of this imputing of 
bad motives for the conduct of those who differed in opinions in the pioneer days ; and 
if these reckless charges could be credited, instead of being properly classed as the bitter 
fruit of sectarian or political prejudice, we would be compelled to believe that Oregon 
was peopled jwith the moral refuse of society instead of the brave and noble-hearted 
men and women we well know them to have been. 

Though the Oregon question had been practically settled by the American immi- 
grants, it was not officially disposed of until 1846. For several years it was warmly 
discussed at every session of congress and received much prominence in the newspapers . 
The people at large, as well as a few members of congress, adopted a very belligerent 
tone and asserted the superior title of the United States to all of the coast south of the 
Russian possessions. In the presidential contest of 1844, " Fifty-four forty or fight" 
became a party cry, and upon that issue James K. Polk was elected. In his first mes- 
sage to congress the new president devoted one-fifth of the space to an exhaustive dis- 
cussion of the question, and recommended that the required notice for a termination of 
the treaty of joint occupation be given, that military posts be constructed along the 
emigrant route and that the national laws be extended over Oregon. The debate which 
followed was long and earnest, and it seemed as though war would be the result. 
The resolution terminating the treaty of joint occupation passed the house and went to 
the senate, where for many days it engrossed the attention of the greatest statesmen of 
America. Finally the resolution passed that body, but so modified as to strip it of its 
pugnacious tone and admit of a compromise. It had occupied the attention of congress 
for four months and twenty-one days, during which time the whole country had been 
engaged in its discussion and the dark cloud of war hovered over the nation. Negotia- 
tions continued between the two governments until a treaty was signed on the seven- 
teenth of July, 184(3, by which the boundary line of the 49th parallel east of the Rocky 



150 OREGON. 

mountains was extended to the Pacific, but not including in the United States any por- 
tion of Vancouver island. 

On the fourth of June, 1846, officers were elected in the various counties in Ore- 
gon, as well as representatives in the legislature. June 3, 1847, another county and 
legislative election was held. At the same time George Abernethy was chosen gover- 
nor for a second term, the opposing candidate being A. L. Lovejoy, who had a minority 
of only sixteen votes. The other officers were: S. M. Holderness, secretary; John H. 
Couch, treasurer; George W. Bell, auditor of public accounts; A. Lawrence Lovejoy, 
attorney general; Theophilus McGruder, auditor; J. Quinn Thornton, judge of the 
supreme court; H. M. Knighton, marshal; Alonzo A. Skinner, judge of the circuit court. 
Another large immigration came in 1847 and still another in 1848. On the twelfth 
of June, 1848, county and representative officers were chosen for the last time under 
the j:>rovisional government. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



WHITMAN MASSACRE AND CAYUSE WAR. 

Sectarian Histories Unreliable — The Battle of the Creeds — Missionaries and Settlers Classed Together — Rest- 
lessness of the Indians— Dr. White's Visit to the Nez Perces— Indians Incensed against Americans — Trouble 
at Oregon City — Disbandment of Methodist Mission — Catholic Method of Converting Savages — Growing 
Feeling of Hostility among the Cayuses — Catholics Establish a Mission in Opposition to Whitman— Joe 
Lewis and his Perfidy — Epidemic among the Cayuses— The Poison Theory — The Massacre at Waiilatpu — 
Spalding's Charges and Responsibility of the Catholics — Rescue of the Prisoners by Peter Skeen Ogden 
— The Cayuses Prepare for War — The Whites March against the Indians — The Cayuses Settle the Matter 
among Themselves— Execution of the Hostages. 

The literature of this portion of Oregon's history has flowed chiefly from sectarian 
sources. So bitter became the feelings engendered by the religious contest, that all 
accounts of the events of this period are so impregnated with personal feeling "as to 
render them valueless as history. Their very tone is evidence of unreliability ; and 
this applies as much to the Protestant as the Catholic writings. They are composed 
largely of abuse of the opposite sect, of suppression of or only obscure reference to facts 
detrimental to the side from which the writings proceed, and of enlargement of every 
trivial circumstance that can be shown to the disadvantage of the opposing party. 
That such writings should be dignified with the title of History is a reproach to litera- 
ture. A careful examination will satisfy an unprejudiced person that this chapter 
reveals as nearly as possible the true facts, and does justice to both parties to the con- 
troversy. 



OREGON. 151 

The first gun was lived and the nature of the campaign outlined by Dr. Samuel 
Parker, the first associate of Dr. Whitman ; and this in 1836, before the Catholics had 
entered the field. At the mouth of Alpowa creek, on Snake river, he came upon 
a burial party of Nez Perces, who " had prepared a cross to set up at the grave," and 
because the symbol of the crucifixion offended his sight and he feared it would make 
" a stepping-stone to idolatry," he took " the cross which the Indians had prepared and 
broke it in pieces." As the Catholics had not yet made their appearance in Oregon 
and consequently " didn't know they were hit," this incident is of interest simply to 
show the spirit of religious intolerance which held possession of Dr. Parker, and which 
after events proved to pervade his successors. When the two Catholic priests, Fathers 
Blanchet and Demers, arrived in 1838, the Methodists had missions in the Willamette val- 
ley, and at The Dalles, andtheCongregationalistshad one at Waiilatpu among the Cay- 
uses, at Lapwai among the Xez Perces, and at Tshimakain among the Spokaues. The 
Protestants were well entrenched, and the Catholics had to enter new fields, of which 
there were many, or attack the others direct. It will be seen that they did both. 

The Catholic plan of operations is outlined by Father Blanchet himself, who in after 
years thus wrote of the duties of the missionary priests : " They were to warn their 
flocks against the dangers of seduction, to destroy the false impression already received, 
to enlighten and confirm the faith of the wavering and deceived consciences, to bring- 
back to the practice of religion and virtue all who had forsaken them for long years 
or who, raised in infidelity, had never known nor practiced any of them. * * * 
In a word they were to run after the sheep when they were in danger. Hence their 
passing so often from one post to another — for neither the white people nor the Indians 
claimed their assistance in vain. And it was enough for them to hear that some false 
prophet had penetrated into a [place, or intended visiting some locality, to induce the 
missionaries to go there immediately, to defend the faith and prevent error from 
propagating itself." Here is a direct statement from the bishop at the head of 
the church, that it was the Catholic plan to counteract the influence of the Protestants 
where they had already located missions, as well as to hasten to any new point they 
might select in order to prevent the founding of new ones. The first overt act of this 
kind was made at ISesqualy, only a few months after they arrived. Blanchet says t 
" The first mission to iSTesqualy was made by Father Demers, who celebrated the first 
mass in the fort on April 22, [1839], the day after he arrived. His visit at such a 
time was forced upon him by the establishment of a Methodist mission for the Indians. 

* * * After having given orders to build a chapel, and said mass outside of the 
fort, he parted with them, blessing the Lord for the success of his mission among the 
whites and Indians, and reached Cowlitz on Monday, the 30th, with the conviction 
that his mission at Nesqualy had left a very feeble chance for a Methodist mission 
there." 

Some ingenious artist among the priests made a picture showing a large tree with 
many branches. The different Protestant sects were represented as going up the tree 
and out upon the various branches, from which they dropped into a fire, and this fire 
was kept burning by a priest who fed it with the heretical books of the roasting vic- 
tims. This picture tickled the Indians immensely, and among the Xez Perces it bid 
fair to capture the whole tribe. As an offset Mr. Spalding had his wife paint a num- 



152 OREGON. 



ber of illustrations of prominent bible events, and this panorama soon crowded the 
Catholic cartoon from the field. Thus this contest went on for several years. In 1841 
the Cascades Indians were won away from The Dalles mission in spite of Mr. Waller's 
strenuous efforts to hold them. This same Mr. Waller gave expression to his feelings 
on doctrinal points by cutting down a cross erected by the Catholics at the Clackamas 



village. 



There was one thing which gave the Catholics a decided advantage among the 
natives, and that was the use of symbols and ceremonies, as Blanchet expresses it : 
" The sight of the altar, vestments, sacred vessels and great ceremonies, were drawing 
their attention a great deal more than the cold, unavailable and long lay services of 
Brother Waller." These were more akin to their own ideas of religion than the simple 
services of the Protestants. The mystery was fascinating to them, and they preferred 
to see the priests " make medicine " than to hear so much " wa wa " from the minis- 
ters. By thus working upon the superstitious nature of the savages and making no 
effort to suddenly change their habits and time-honored customs, the Catholics gained 
a firm hold upon them, and were thus able, gradually, to bring about the desired 
change. The Protestants, on the contrary, endeavored to accomplish too much at 
once, and having no censers to swing or imposing vestments to wear, could gain but 
slight influence over the natives when their opponents were about. 

There was still another factor which contributed to the unpopularity of the Protes- 
tant missionaries, and one which became stronger as time rolled on, and that was their 
connection with American settlers, and their efforts to cultivate the soil. The Indians 
did not want white people to settle in the country. They recognized the fact that both 
races could not live here, and that if white people came the Indians must go. It was 
this feeling which caused Ellis to forbid A. B. Smith to cultivate a patch of ground in 
1840. The Hudson's Bay Company encouraged the idea among the Indians that the 
missions were but stepping stones to American occupation, and this idea was supported 
by the conduct of those in charge of the Methodist mission in the Willamette, which 
had become the general headquarters for American settlers. The fur company had 
been here for years and had not taken their lauds away from them but instead, had 
supplied them with a good market for such furs as they might have; yet the Americans, 
who were but new comers, were already taking their lands, and more kept arriving 
yearly. The outgrowth of this was a feeling of bitterness against the Americans, in- 
cluding the Protestant missionaries, in which neither the Hudson's Bay Company men 
nor the Catholics were included; and this feeling intensified year by year. 

In 1841, Dr. Whitman was insulted and attacked at Waiilatpu in consequence of 
trouble between Gray and an Indian. Immediately after he left on his winter journey 
and before Mrs. Whitman went to Fort Walla Walla, a Cayuse chief attempted to enter 
her room at night, and a few days later the mission mill and its contents were destroyed 
by fire. About the same time Mrs. Spalding, at the LajDwai mission, was grossly in- 
sulted and ordered from her own house; and at another time Mr. Spalding's life was 
threatened. Dr. Elijah White, the Indian agent who arrived but a few weeks before, 
determined to check this growing spirit of hostility. Accordingly, in November, 
accompanied by Thomas McKay, who had left the company's service and settled in the 
valley, and six men, he left the Willamette for the interior. At Fort Walla Walla 



OREGON. 153 

McKinlay joined them and the party proceeded to Lapwai to hold a counsel with the 
Nez Perces. After a long talk, in which McKay and McKinlay took an important 
part, a treaty was entered into whereby whites and Indians were to be equally punished 
for offences, and the Xez Perces adopted a system of laws in which the general princi- 
ples of right and justice were embodied in a form suitable to their customs and condi- 
tion. Ellis was chosen head chief to enforce the laws. The party of Dr. White then 
returned to hold a council with the Cayuses. But little was accomplished with them 
except to appoint the tenth of the ensuing April for a general council with the whole 
tribe. The next tribe visited was the Wascopum, at The Dalies, and these readily 
adopted the same laws Dr. White had given the Xez Perces. The result of these 
councils was to infuse a sense of security into both the whites and Indians. 

The next summer disaffection broke out afresh, owing to the evil counsels of 
Baptiste Dorion, a half breed son of Pierre Dorion who had been interpreter for Hunt's 
party of the Astor expedition in 1811. This man was interpreter for the Hudson's 
Bay Company, and upon his own resjwnsibility informed some of the Indians about 
Fort Walla Walla that the Americans were coming up in the summer to take their lands. 
This story spread among the tribes along the base of the Blue mountains and created 
great excitement. The young warriors wanted to go to the Willamette and exterminate 
the Americans, but were held in check by the older ones. Peo-peo-mux-mux, chief of 
the Walla Wallas, visited Vancouver to ascertain the truth of Dorion's statements, and 
was informed by Dr. McLaughlin that he did not believe the Americans entertained 
any such idea; but if they did he could rest assured that the Hudson's Bay Company 
would not aid them in a war of that kind against the Indians. The return of the 
Walla Walla chief quieted the excitement to a certain extent, yet a feeling of appre- 
hension still remained, and the missionaries sent for Dr. White to make another official 
visit to the tribes. He started in the latter part of April, accompanied by Rev. Gus- 
tavus Hines, George W. LeBreton, one Indian boy and a Kanaka. Several French 
Canadians were to have accompanied them, but were advised by Dr. McLaughlin to 
remain at home and "let the Americans take care of themselves." 

The result of this visit was to restore the spirit of security, and to insure tranquil- 
ity for a time at least. The Cayuses adopted the Xez Perce laws and elected for head 
chief Five Crows, who had embraced the Protestant faith and was favorably disposed 
towards the Americans. - The action of Dr. McLaughlin has been severely censured 
and has served as an argument to prove that the Hudson's Bay Company was stirring 
up the Indians to drive the Americans from the country. That is certainly putting a 
strained construction on it, as will be admitted when it is understood that the Ameri- 
can settlers had but a few days before unanimously signed a memorial to congress, in 
which Dr. McLaughlin was severely censured. Father Demers arrived from the 
interior at this time and informed him that : " The Indians are only incensed against 
the Boston people ; that they have nothing against the French and King George peo- 
ple ; they are not mad at them, but are determined that the Boston j^eople shall not 
have their lands and take away their liberties." Is it at all unnatural that, learning 
that his people were in no danger and smarting under the unjust charges of the Amer- 
icans, he should have said, " Let the Americans take care of themselves ?" 

•20 



154 OREGON. 

There was trouble in the Willamette valley in 1844 which served to still more 
embitter the Indians against the Americans. There was a sub-chief of the Molallas 
named Cockstock, a man of independent nature and belligerent disposition. He had a 
few followers who partook somewhat of his spirit, and they were generally the prime 
movers in such hostile acts as the natives of the Willamette indulged in. He was 
rebellious of restraint, and not friendly to the encroachment of the white settlers. A 
relative of his having mistreated Mr. Perkins at The Dalles mission, was sentenced by 
the Wasco tribe to be punished according to Dr. White's laws. The sub-chief was 
enraged at the whipping his kinsman had received, and set out to revenge the 
insult upon the Indian agent. Reaching the agent's Willamette home during his ab- 
sence, he proceeded to break every window pane in the house. He was pursued, but 
not caught, and became an object of terror to the Doctor. All depredations committed 
in the country were charged to this chief, and it finally resulted in the offer by Dr. 
White of one hundred dollars reward for the arrest of the formidable Indian. Learn- 
ing that he was being accused of acts committed by others, the chief visited Oregon 
City March 4, accompanied by four of his band, with the avowed purpose of having 
a talk with the whites for the purpose of exculpating himself. He entered the town, 
staid for about an hour, and then crossed the river to visit an Indian village to procure 
an Indian interpreter. He then recrossed the Willamette, when several men under- 
took to arrest him and a desperate fight ensued. Cockstock was killed, and his fol- 
lowers, after fighting valiantly until the odds became too great, made good their escape. 
On the other side George W. LeBreton was killed by Cockstock, and Mr. Rogers, who 
was working quietly near by, was wounded in the arm by a poisoned arrow, which 
caused his death. It has been asserted that the Molalla chief attacked the town, but 
it requires too much credulity to believe that five Indians would in broad daylight 
attack a town containing ten times their number. The whole affair is chargeable to 
the rash conduct of a few men who were eager to gain the paltry reward offered by 
Dr. White, one of whom paid for his cupidity with his life. Fearing that trouble 
might follow, the executive committee of the provisional government issued a procla- 
mation for the organization of a military company. A company was organized on the 
tenth of March by citizens who assembled at Champoeg. Nineteen names were en- 
rolled, T. D. Keizer being elected captain and J. L. Morrison and Mr. Carson lieu- 
tenants. Their services were not required. 

In May, 1844, Rev. George Gary arrived by sea to supersede Jason Lee in charge 
of the Methodist missions, the latter being already on his way East. The mission 
property was immediately sold and the missionary work, which had amounted to little 
so far as accomplishments were concerned for several years, was discontinued, excejrt 
at The Dalles. While the Methodists were thus withdrawing from the field, the Cath- 
olics were largely increasing their force. Among other arrivals for that purpose were 
six sisters of the order of Notre Dame, who came to found a convent in the Willam- 
ette. As Father Blanchet expresses it : " The schemes of the Protestant ministers 
had been fought and nearly annihilated, especially Nesqualy, Vancouver, Cascades, 
Clackamas, and Willamette falls, so that a visitor came in 1844 and disbanded the 
whole Methodist mission, and sold its property." The Methodists being disposed of 
the next thing in order was to get rid of the Congregation alists, whose missions were 



OREGON. 155 

at least holding their own, and one of them, that of Mr. Spalding, at Lapwai, making- 
considerable progress in civilizing the Nez Perces. 

The most successful missionaries among the aborigines of America have been the 
Catholics. The extent of their operations and success of their efforts in this field, are 
but partially known to either the Protestant or Catholic world ; and the secret of their 
success lies in the zeal and judgment with which their religion is impressed upon the 
uncultivated understanding by ceremonies and symbols. All Indians believe in im- 
mortality, in the power and influence of both good and evil spirits upon the family of 
nun. The strongest hold that can be obtained upon that race is to bind them with 
cords of belief and fear to an unseen power, let that power be what it may. Their 
superstitious natures lead them to attribute their good or ill fortune largely to super- 
natural influences, and to enter the door to their understanding of spiritual matters it 
is necessary to keep that door ajar for such purpose. Unless the white man's God is 
a greater medicine than the Indian's, they want none of him. Unless he can save 
them more effectually now and hereafter than the one they have always worshiped, 
they would prefer the old God to the new one. They believe that the Great Spirit 
helps them to slay their enemies, directs the fish to their snares and the wild game to 
their hunting grounds. If he fails so to do, it is because he is angry with them and 
must be propitiated. A God that leaves an Indian hungry and a scalp on the head of 
his offending enemy, would be void of interest or attraction. The Catholic missionary 
teaches the credulous Indian that the white man's God not only takes heed of the hair 
that falls from the head of his chosen, but provides for him ; and, being the God not 
only of peace, but of battle, makes his arms invincible in waging just war against his 
enemies. No stronger inducement can be given to a savage for adopting any religious 
faith than that of being able by that means to protect himself against his foes, to fill 
his stomach, and to go after death to the happy hunting grounds, where there are no 
enemies and no fasting. The Catholic missionary not only understands all this and 
teaches as stated, but he deals out to them religion in homeopathic doses. Through 
the sense of sight, the priest makes an impression upon the brain by ceremonies and 
the attractive symbols of his faith. He follows more closely than the Protestant in 
the line of what the Indian expects to see as typical of a mysterious something unseen. 
It being nearer to his conception arid what he has been accustomed to, he more readily 
believes and adopts it. Using these levers, the missionary moves the Indian by tribes 
into the Catholic church. After gaining an ascendancy the priest makes a judicious 
use of his influence to eradicate the evil practices of his neophytes, without destroying 
his chance for accomplishing any good by asking too great a change suddenly. By 
such systematic methods as this, the Catholic power had been so increased by 1847 that 
there were eight missions and twenty-six priests, sixteen churches and chapels, three 
institutions of learning, 5,000 Indian converts and 1,500 Catholic settlers, chiefly 
Canadians. 

On the contrary the Protestant missions were making comparatively little head- 
way. At each station there were a few who seemed to be in full accord with them, but 
the great majority of the tribe were but slightly affected by their preaching. At 
Waiilatpu things had been going wrong for some time. From the time Whitman first 
went among them there was a small portion of the Cayuses who were opposed to him 



156 OREGON. 

and his work. At the head of this faction was Tain-su-ky, an influential chief who 
lived on Walla Walla river a few miles from the mission. Five Crows, the head chief, 
resided on the Umatilla forty miles away. It was this element which made the trouble 
in 1842 and burned the Doctor's mill. When Whitman returned with the great train 
of emigrants in 1843, these Indians pointed to it as an evidence that his missionary 
pretentions were but a cloak for a design upon their liberties, that he was bringing 
Americans here who would take away their lands. In them Baptiste Dorion found 
willing associates in spreading his stories about the sinister designs of the Americans. 
This feeling of hostility spread from year to year, especially among the Cayuses, 
through whose country the immigrants all passed, and who were thus better able than 
the other tribes to see what great numbers were coming and what a hearty welcome they 
all received from Dr. Whitman and his associates. As far back as 1845, a Delaware 
Indian, called Tom Hill, had been living with the Nez Perce tribe. He had told them 
how American missionaries had visited his people, first to teach religion, and then the 
Americans had taken their lands ; and he w r arned them to drive Mr. Spalding away, 
unless they would invite a similar misfortune. This Indian visited Whitman's mission 
and repeated to the Cayuses his story of the ruin to his tribe that had followed the 
advent of American missionaries to live among them. In the latter part of 1847, an- 
other Indian came among the Cayuses, who had been taken from west of the Cascades 
to the States, when a boy, where he grew to manhood among the Americans. His 
name was Joe Lewis, and he bent all the powers of his subtle nature to the task of 
creating hatred of the missionaries and Americans among the Indians at Waiilatpu. 
He reaffirmed the statements of Dorion and Tom Hill, and said it was the American 
plan of operations to first send missionaries, then a few settlers every year until they 
had taken all the land and made the Indians slaves. It was then that Tam-su-ky and 
his followers were triumphant and could boast of their superior wisdom in opposing 
the mission from the first. The tribe was divided into three classes, a few faithful fol- 
lowers of the Doctor and his God, a few bitterly opposed to the mission, and the great 
majority of the tribe indifferent but gradually acquiring a feeling of hostility. There 
were many, also, who desired to exchange to the Catholic religion, of which they heard 
favorable reports from other tribes. The long black gowns and imposing ceremonies 
had captured them. Whitman perceived the gathering storm but thought it could be 
averted. Thomas McKay warned him that it was unsafe to live longer with the Cay- 
uses, and the Doctor offered to sell the property to him, an offer which McKay agreed 
to accept if he could dispose of his claim on the Willamette. With this in view 
Whitman went to The Dalles in the fall of 1847, and purchased the disused Methodist 
mission there, and leaving his nephew, P. B. Whitman, in charge he returned to 
Waiilatpu to spend the winter, preparatory to moving away in the spring. 

This was the condition of affairs at Waiilatpu when the Catholics decided to take 
advantage of the desire of a number of the Cayuses to embrace their faith and estab- 
lish a mission among them. On the fifth of September, 1847, Father A. M. A. Blanchet 
reached Walla Walla with three associate priests, and the fort became their headquarters 
for a number of weeks while they were seeking a suitable place for a permanent 
location. Whitman found them there upon his return from The Dalles, and quite a 
stormy interview ensued, though it must be confessed that the storming was chiefly 



OREGON. 157 

doue by the Doctor; and no wonder. He had just made arrangements to abandon all 
he had accomplished by eleven years of self-denial and labor, and here he found those 
to whom he attributed his misfortunes ready to take his place even before he had left 
it. He did not hesitate to tell them his opinion of their conduct, and the complaisant 
manner in which they received his complaint aggraA r ated him the more. 

Immigrants from the States in the fall of that year brought with them the dysen- 
tery and measles, which soon became epidemic among the Cay uses. Many Indians 
died in spite of the remedies administered by the Doctor. Joe Lewis made good use 
of his opportunity. He told the Indians that Whitman intended to kill them all; that 
for this purpose he had sent home for poison two years before, but they had not for- 
warded a good kind; that this year the immigrants had brought him some good poison 
and he was now using it to kill off the Cay uses ; that when they were all dead the 
Americans would come and take their lands. He even went so far as to declare that he 
overheard a conversation between Mr. Spalding and Dr. and Mrs. Whitman, in which the 
former complained because the Doctor was not killing them fast enough, and then the 
trio began to count up the wealth they would acquire when the Indians were all dis- 
posed of. This received much credence among the tribe, especially since they knew of 
a somewhat similar case a few years before, when an American purposely spread small- 
pox among the Blackfeet and killed hundreds of that tribe. Without knowing the 
perfidious conduct of Joe Lewis, who was employed about the mission, Dr. Whitman 
perceived the signs of danger, and asked Thomas McKay to spend the winter with 
him, as that gentleman's influence with the natives was great; but Mr. McKay was un- 
able to comply. 

On the twenty-seventh of November, two days before the massacre, the Catholics 
established their mission on the Umatilla, forty miles from Waiilatpu and near the 
home of Five Crows, the head chief. Joe Lewis had assured the Cay uses that the 
priest had told him Dr. Whitman was giving them poison, which does not seem to be 
sustained by reason or probability. In 1882 the writer had a long interview with 
three of these Indians, ones who were still adherents of the faith taught them by Whit- 
man, and since they have suffered much persecution at the hands of the Catholics in 
charge of the mission, were not inclined to tell untruths in their belief. They unani- 
mously agreed that they never heard the priest say anything about Dr. Whitman 
giving them poison ; that Joe Lewis told them that, and said he learned it from the 
priest ; that it was generally believed the priest had said so, but afterwards in investi- 
gating the matter among themselves they could find no one to whom . the priest said 
anything of the kind, and that it all came through Joe Lewis. One thing the Roman 
missionary did say, and this helped to confirm the Indians in their belief that he had 
also said the other, and that was that Dr. Whitman was a bad man, and if they be- 
lieved what he told them they would all go to hell, for he was telling them lies. Even 
such a statement as that, to unreasoning and passionate savages, was almost enough, in 
case they believed it true, to have caused the bloody scene which followed, even had 
not the poison theory been so industriously circulated by the scheming Lewis. 

The followers of Tam-su-ky determined to prove the poison theory. The wife of 
that chief was sick, and they agreed among themselves that they would get some med- 



158 OREGON. 

icine from the Doctor and give it to her ; if she recovered, good, if not, then they 
would kill the missionaries. They did so, and the woman died. 

Waiilatpu was centrally located, since the Cayuses occupied the country from 
Umatilla river to the Tukannon. Every Sunday large numbers gathered at the mission, 
some of them to actually j)articipate in the services, and others because of the crowd 
they knew would be assembled. On week days, however, it was seldom that a dozen 
could be found there at a time. For this reason Tam-su-ky and his followers chose a 
week day for their deed, a time when they thought none of the Whitman Indians 
would be present to interfere. They were careful to conceal their design from the 
Christian Indians and from the head chief, Five Crows, for fear he would prevent its 
execution. About fifty Indians assembled at the mission on the twenty-ninth of Novem- 
ber, 1847, being chiefly the relatives and friends of Tam-su-ky. Of these only five 
participated in the bloody work, the others simply looking on and preventing the in- 
terference of any outsiders and especially of the one or two Whitman Indians who 
happened to be present. The horrible details of the massacre it is needless to relate. 
Mr. Spalding has given them with a minuteness that is strongly suggestive of an origin 
in the imagination, yet his narrative is probably in the main as correct as could possi- 
bly be gathered from the incoherent stories of frightened women and children. It is 
only when he carries the melodramatic too far, and when he is endeavoring to make it 
appear that the massacre was perpetrated at the instigation of Father Brouillet and 
sanctioned by the Hudson's Bay Company, that his statements become unreliable. 
His picture is much overdrawn, though Heaven knows that in some particulars, and 
especially in the after treatment of the female prisoners, even those of tender age, the 
pen utterly fails to depict the horrors of the scene. He uses such expressions as " mul- 
titudes of Indians," " cutting down their victims everywhere," " the roar of guns," the 
" crash of war clubs and tomahawks," " shock like terrific peals of thunder," in refer- 
ring to the discharge of a few guns, " crash of the clubs and the knives ;" and yet 
when the whole is summed up but thirteen were killed in all, nine that day, two the 
next and two eight days later. He is equally reckless in his language when making 
charges against Father Brouillet, whom he accuses of coming up from the Umatilla 
the day after the massacre and " baptizing the murderers." The facts are that he 
came upon an invitation given him by the missionary several days before, only learn- 
ing of the horrible tragedy upon his arrival ; and the " murderers " whom he baptized 
were three sick children, two of whom died immediately after the ceremony. He also 
accuses him of pretending to find the poison and burying it so that it could have no 
more influence. The Whitman Indians stated unanimously that Joe Lewis did this 
and not the priest. The only interference the priest dared to make at all was when he 
successfully interposed to save Spalding's life. 

The bloody excesses into which religious zealots were led in times past suggest the 
possibility of the truth of these charges, yet they are entirely unsupported by evidence, 
and common charity should demand convincing j)roof to sustain such an accusation. 
Though the Catholics are cleared of the charge of directly instigating the massacre by 
telling the Indians that Dr. Whitman was poisoning them so that he might secure 
their lands for his friends, yet they cannot escape the moral responsibility of the deed . 
In the first place they went among the Cayuses for the purpose of driving Whitman 



OREGON. 159 

away and obtaining control of the tribe. To accomplish this they told the Indians 
that Dr. Whitman was a bad man, was telling them lies, and if they believed him they 
would all go to hell. Father Brouillet ought by that time to have become sufficiently 
acquainted with the Indian character to know that such assertions, if they were credited, 
were calculated to bring on just such a tragedy as was enacted. Whether he knew 
this and acted with that end in view, or whether he expected to simj)ly win the relig- 
ious trust of the Cayuses away from Whitman, will remain a secret forever. The mas- 
sacre was the result of four separate causes — the dislike of Americans, the ravages of 
the epidemic, the poison intrigue of Joe Lewis, and the priest's denunciations of Dr. 
Whitman — and Father Brouillet can never shake off the moral responsibility for 
one of the most potent of these causes. The victims of this conflict of creeds were : Dr. 
Marcus Whitman, Mrs. Narcissa Whitman, John Sager, Francis Sager, Crockett Bewley, 
Mr. Rogers, Mr. Kimball, Mr. Sales, Mr. Marsh, Mr. Sanders, James Young, Jr., Mr. 
Hoffman, and Isaac Gillen. 

Immediately after the massacre Joe Lewis told the Cayuses that now they must 
fight, for the Americans would surely come to punish them. He advised them to send 
him and two others to Salt Lake with a band of horses, to purchase ammunition from the 
Mormons. He started with a select band of animals and two young braves, and a few 
days later one of the braves returned with the intelligence that Joe Lewis had killed 
the other one and decamped with the horses; and this was the last the Cayuses saw of 
that scheming villain. 

Intelligence of the massacre reached Fort Vancouver by special messenger from 
William McBean, in charge of Fort Walla Walla. The messenger did not warn the 
people at The Dalles of their danger, but went directly to the fort and delivered his 
message to James Douglas, then the chief factor at Vancouver. When questioned 
about his conduct he said he was obeying instructions received from McBean. This 
and the conduct of McBean at Fort Walla Walla in displaying an unwillingness to 
receive and protect fugitives from Waiilatpu, have been cited as conclusive evidence 
that the Hudson's Bay Company connived at the massacre; but nothing in the conduct 
of other officers of the company sustains such an opinion, while much is to the contrary, 
and it simply .shows that McBean was a narrow-minded man who, knowdng the general 
feeling of the Indians in that region against the Americans, was afraid he would com- 
promise the company by defending them. He had not soul enough to rise to the 
emergency. 

Mr. Douglas sent a message to Governor Abernethy, advising him of what had 
taken place ; and without waiting to see what steps the Americans would take, Peter 
Skeen Ogden, an old and influential factor of the company, departed from Vancouver 
with an armed force for the scene of the tragedy, advising the people at The Dalles of 
their danger as he passed. He reached Walla Walla on the nineteenth of December. 
The next day the Cayuses held a council and decided that if the Americans would call 
everything square and would make a treaty of peace, they would deliver up the pris- 
oners. Three days later the chiefs came to Walla Walla and held a council with Mr: 
Ogden, who offered to ransom the captives and assured the Indians that the}>- would 
regret it if they provoked the Americans to war, and that the company was much dis- 
pleased with their conduct. The conference resulted in the surrender of forty-seven 



160 OREGON. 

prisoners upon the payment of a small quantity of tobacco, clothing, guns and am- 
munition. On the first of January fifty Nez Perces arrived with Mr. Spalding and 
ten others from Lapwai, receiving a similar payment from Mr. Ogden, and on the 
second the whole party started down the Columbia. Two hours later fifty Cayuse 
warriors dashed up to the fort to demand the surrender of Mr. Spalding, as they had 
just learned that a company of Americans had arrived at The Dalles to make war 
upon them. On the tenth of January they all reached Oregon City, and great was 
the joy of the people. For his humane conduct and prompt action Peter Skeen Ogden 
should always occupy a warm place in the hearts of Americans ; yet there are those 
who ungratefully accuse him of attempting to arm the Cayuses against the Americans, 
simply because a few guns and a little ammunition formed a portion of the ransom 
paid to deliver these helpless women from a captivity that was worse than death. 

While Mr. Ogden was absent on his errand of mercy, the American settlers were 
not idle. On the eighth of December Governor Abernethy informed the legislature of 
what had been done at Waiilatpu, and by message called for volunteers. That night 
at a public meeting a company was organized to proceed at once to The Dalles, as an 
outpost to protect the missionaries there, and to dispute a passage of the Cascade moun- 
tains with hostile Indians if any attempted carrying war into the Willamette settle- 
ments. The company was commanded by Henry A. G. Lee, captain, and Joseph 
Magoue and John E. Ross, lieutenants. The legislature pledged the credit of the 
provisional government to pay the expenses of procuring an outfit for this company, 
and appointed a committee to visit Vancouver and negotiate for the same from the 
Hudson's Bay Company, which they did, but were obliged to become personally respon- 
sible for the amount. December 10, the Oregon Rifles reached Vancouver, received 
their supplies, and pushed on for The Dalles, where they arrived on the twenty-first of 
the month. In the meantime the legislature entered with energy upon a series of 
resolutions and enactments with a view to military organization of magnitude sufficient 
to chastise the Indians, and the citizens by subscriptions and enlistments seconded 
cordially the efforts of their provisional government. Many were for pushing forward 
into the enemy's country at once with a formidable force, but wiser counsels prevailed, 
and nothing was done likely to prevent the Indians from surrendering their white 
captives to Mr. Ogden. 

On the ninth of December the legislature authorized the equipping of a regiment 
of 500 men, and in accordance with the act sixteen companies were raised. Cornelius 
Gilliam was chosen colonel, James Waters, lieutenant-colonel, and H. A. G. Lee, major. 

February 23, 1848, Colonel Gilliam reached The Dalles with fifty men. The 
main body of his regiment arriving at that place, he moved to the Des Chutes river 
on the twenty-seventh with 130 men, crossed to the east bank, and sent Major Lee up 
the stream about twenty miles on a reconnoisance, where he found the enemy, engaged 
them, killed one, lost some of his horses and returned to report progress. On the 
twenty-ninth Colonel Gilliam moved up the Des Chutes to Meek's crossing at the 
mouth of the canon in which Major Lee had met the Indians. The next morning on 
entering the canon a skirmish followed, in which were captured from the hostiles, 40 
horses, 4 head of cattle and $300 worth of personal property, all of which was sold by 
the quartermaster for $1,400. The loss of the Indians in killed and wounded was not 




I— 




m 


C3 


• 


C3 




C= 


| 


CT 


i : 


3> 
en 


- 



OREGON. 161 

known. There was one white man wounded. The result was ;i treaty of peace with 
the Des Chutes Indians. The command pushed immediately forward to the Walla 
Walla country and reached the mission prior to March 4. On the way to that place 
a battle occurred at Sand Hollows, on the emigrant road eight miles east of the Well 
Springs. It commenced on the plain where washes in the sand make natural hiding- 
places for a foe, and lasted until towards night. The volunteer force was arranged 
with the train in the road protected by Captain Hall's company. The companies of 
Captains Thompson and Maxon, forming the left flank, were on the north side of the 
road, and those of Captains English and McKay, as the right flank, were on the south 
or right of the command. Upon McKay's compan}^ at the extreme right the first 
demonstration was made. Five Crows, the head chief of the Cayuses, made some pre- 
tensions to the possession of wizard powers, and declared to his people that no ball from 
a white man's gun could kill him. Another chief of that tribe named War Eagle or 
Swallow Ball, made similar professions and stated that he could swallow all the bullets 
from the guns of the invading army if they were fired at him. The two chiefs prom- 
ised their people that Gilliam's command should never reach the Umatilla river, and 
to demonstrate their invulnerability and power as medicine chiefs, they dashed out 
from concealment, rode down close to the volunteers and shot a little dog that came out 
to bark at them. Captain McKay, although the order was not to fire, could hold back 
no longer, and bringing his rifle to bear took deliberate aim and shot War Eagle 
through the head, killing him instantly. Lieutenant Charles McKay brought his shot 
gun down to the hollow of his arm, and firing without sighting it, so severely wounded 
Five Crows that he gave up the command of his warriors. This was a serious, chilling 
opening for the Indians, two chiefs gone at the first onset and their medicine proved 
worthless ; but they continued the battle in a skirmishing way, making dashing attacks 
and masterly retreats until late in the afternoon. At one time during the engagement, 
Captain Maxon's company followed the enemy so far that it was surrounded, and a 
sharp encounter followed, in which a number of volunteers were disabled. In fact, 
eight of the eleven soldiers wounded that day were of Maxon's company. Two Indians 
were known to have been killed, but the enemy's loss could not be known as they re- 
moved all of their wounded and dead, except two. 

That night the regiment camped on the battlefield without water, and the Indians 
built large and numerous fires along the bluffs or high lands some two miles in advance. 
The next day Colonel Gilliam moved on, and without incident worthy of note, reached 
Whitman's mission, the third clay after the battle. The main body of Indians fell 
back towards Snake river, and a fruitless attempt followed to induce them to give up 
the parties who had committed the murders at Waiilatpu. Colonel Gilliam at last de- 
termined upon making a raid into the Snake river country, and in carrying out this 
programme, surprised a camp of Cayuses near that stream, among whom were some 
of the murderers. The captured camp professed friendship, however, and pointed out 
the horses of Indians on the hills, which they, said belonged to the parties whom the 
Colonel was anxious to kill or capture, stating that their owners were on the north side 
of Snake river and beyond reach. So well was their part acted that the officers be- 
lieved their statements, proceeded to drive off the stock indicated, and started on their 
return. They soon found that a grievous error had been committed in releasing the 

21 



162 OREGON. 

village, whose male population were soon mounted upon war horses, and assailed the 
volunteers on all sides, forcing them to fight their way as they fell back to the Touchet 
river. Through the whole day and until evening, yes, into the night after their arri- 
val at the latter stream, the contest was maintained, a constant, harassing skirmish. 
The soldiers would drive the Indians back again and again, but as soon as the retreat 
was resumed, the red skins were upon them once more. Finally, after going into cam}) 
on the Touchet, Colonel Gilliam ordered the captured stock turned loose, and when 
the Indians got possession of it, they returned to Snake river without molesting the 
command any further. In the struggle on the Touchet, when the retreating soldiers 
first reached that stream, William Taylor was mortally wounded by an Indian who 
sprang up in the bushes by the stream and fired with but a few yards between them- 
Nathan Olney, afterwards Indian agent, seeing the act, rushed upon the savage, snatched 
from his hand a war club in which was fastened a piece of iron, and dealt him a blow 
on the head with it with such force as to cause the iron to split the club, and yet failed 
to kill him. He then closed with his antagonist in a hand to hand struggle, and soon 
ended the contest with a knife. The writer has not been able to learn of any other 
known casualties in that affair, which ended without having accomplished anything to 
further the purposes of the campaign. 

Colonel Gilliam started from the mission on the twentieth of March, with a small 
force destined to return from the Dalles with supplies, while he was to continue to the 
Willamette and report to the governor. While camped at Well Springs he was killed 
by an accidental discharge of a gun, and his remains were taken to his friends west of 
the Cascades by Major Lee. This officer soon returned to his regiment with a com- 
mission as colonel, but finding Lr. Col. Waters had been elected by the regiment to 
that position in his absence, he resigned and filled a subordinate office for the remainder 
of his term of enlistment. The attempt by commissioners, who had been sent with the 
volunteers, as requested by the Indians in their memorial to the Americans, to nego- 
tiate a peaceful solution of the difficult problem, failed. They wanted the Indians to 
deliver up for execution all those who had imbued their hands in the blood of our 
countrymen at Waiilatpu, and it included several chiefs ; they wished the Cayuses to 
pay all damages to emigrants caused by their being robbed or attacked while passing 
through the Cayuse country. The Indians wished nothing of the kind. They wanted 
peace, and to be let alone ; for the Americans to call the account balanced and drop 
the matter. The failure to agree had resulted in two or three skirmishes, one of them 
at least a severe test of strength, in which the Indians had received the worst of it, and 
in the other the volunteers had accomplished nothing that could be counted a success. 
The Cayuses finding that no compromise could be effected, abandoned their country, 
and most of them passed east of the mountains. Nothing was left for the volunteers 
but to leave the country also, which they did, and the Cayuse war had practically 
ended. Finally, they were given to understand that peace could never exist between 
them and the Americans until the murderers were delivered up for ]:>unishment, 

At that time, early in 1850, Tam-su-ky and his supporters, including many 
relatives who had not in any manner participated in the massacre, were hiding in the 
mountains at the head of John Day river. The Indians who desired peace went after 
them, and a fight ensued, ending in the capture of nearly all of the turbulent band. 



OREGON. 163 

Only one, however, of the five who were actually engaged in the bloody work at 
Waiilatpu (so the Whitman Indians assert) was captured, and he was Ta-ma-has, a 

hit tody-minded villain whom his countrymen called The "Murderer." It was he who 
commenced the work of death by braining Dr. Whitman with a hatchet. Taking him 
and four others, several of the older men and chiefs went to Oregon City to deliver 
them up as hostages. They were at once thrown into prison, condemned, and hung at 
Oregon City on the third of June, 1850; and even the ones who brought them, in 
view of this summary proceeding, congratulated themselves upon their safe return. 
They believed that Ta-ma-has should have been hung, but not the other four, not 
understanding the theory of accomplices, and so the few survivors of the tribe assert to 
the present day. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. 

Discouraging News Brought by Immigrants in 1847 — Letters from President Polk and Senator Benton — J. 
Quinn Thornton's Mission to Washington — Senatorial Struggle over the Oregon Bill — Joe Meeks' Trip 
Across the Continent — Arrival of Governor Lane — Discovery of Gold — Effect upon Oregon— Beaver Money — 
Steps Leading to Creation of Washington Territory — Division of Oregon — First Government of Washing- 
ton Territory — Indian War of 1855-6. 

With the immigration of 1847, so large and so encouraging to the struggling set- 
tlers of Oregon, came the disheartening intelligence that congress had failed utterly to 
provide for a territorial government for this neglected region, or to extend to it in any 
Avay the benefit of the national laws. Four years had the people of Oregon governed 
themselves, loyal in heart and deed to their native land, and for a year had England 
by solemn treaty relinquished all her asserted rights, and yet the national legislature 
denied it the aid and protection of the law. Congress had, during the session of 184f)-7, 
made an appropriation for a mail service via Panama to Oregon, and two post masters 
were appointed, one for Astoria and one for Oregon City, also an Indian agent. By 
one of the new officials, Mr. Shively, James Buchanan, secretary of state, transmitted a 
letter to the people, expressing the deep regret of President Polk that congress had 
been so unmindful of their needs and rights. The communication also contained the 
assurance that the executive would extend to this far off region all the protection with- 
in his power, including occasional visits of vessels of war and the presence of a regi- 
ment of dragoons to guard the immigration. Mr. Shively also bore a letter from 
Thomas H. Benton, that sturdy senator from Missouri, whose voice and pen had un- 
swervingly championed the cause of Oregon for thirty years. In this letter, dated at 
Washington City, March, 1847, Mr. Benton says : 



164 OKEGON. 

" The house of representatives, as early as the middle of January, had passed the 
bill to give you a territorial government, and in that bill had sanctioned and legalized 
your provisional organic act, one of the clauses of which forever j)rohibited the 
existence of slavery in Oregon. An amendment from the senate's committee to which 
this bill was referred, proposed to abrogate that prohibition, and in the delays and vex- 
ations to which that amendment gave rise, the whole bill was laid upon the table, and 
lost for the session. * * * But do not be alarmed or desperate. You will not be 
outlawed for not admitting slavery. *■ * * A. home agitation, for election and dis- 
union purposes, is all that is intended by thrusting this fire brand question into your 
bill ; and, at the next session, when it is thrust in again, we will scourge it out ! and pass 
your bill as it ought to be. * * * In conclusion, I have to assure you that the 
same spirit which has made me the friend of Oregon for thirty years — which led me 
to denounce the joint occupation treaty the day it was made, and to oppose its revival 
in 1828, and to labor for its abrogation until it was terminated ; the same spirit which 
led me to reveal the grand destiny of Oregon in articles written in 1818, and to sup- 
port every measure for her benefit since — this spirit still animates me, and will continue 
to do so while I live — which, I hope, will be long enough to see an emporium of 
Asiatic commerce at the mouth of your river, and a stream of Asiatic trade pouring 
into the valley of the Mississippi through the channel of Oregon." Would that the 
grand old statesman could have lived to see his prophecy fulfilled in the new era upon 
which far off Oregon — now far off no longer — has so propitiously entered. 

These letters were both disheartening and cheering. The people felt despondent 
at being so neglected by the authorities of their loved country, but were cheered by 
the thought that warm friends were laboring for their welfare far beyond the reach 
of their grateful voices. Hon. J. Quinn Thornton, supreme judge of the provisional 
government, had been, during the past year, frequently urged by influential men, to 
proceed to Washington and labor with congress in behalf of Oregon. In particular 
had the lamented Dr. Whitman requested him so to do, asserting that only the estab- 
lishment of a strong territorial government, one that the Indians would recognize as 
powerful, would " save him and his mission from falling under the murderous hands of 
savages." Mr. Thornton recognized the importance of such a delegate, and solicited 
Hon. Peter H. Burnett, subsequently the first governor of California, to undertake the 
mission, but without success. The news of the state of affairs at Washington brought 
by Mr. Shively, decided Mr. Thornton, and on the eighteenth of October, 1847, having 
resigned his judicial office, he departed on his arduous mission, armed with a letter 
from Governor Abernethy to President Polk. Mr. Thornton was by no means a reg- 
ularly constituted delegate, since Oregon was not authorized to accredit such an official 
to congress, but simply went as a private individual, representing in an unofficial man- 
ner the governor and many of the prominent citizens of Oregon. In fact the legis- 
lature, deeming its functions infringed upon by this action of the governor, passed 
resolutions embodying their idea of the harm done the colony by the officiousness of 
" secret factions." 

There was not ready money enough in the treasury to have paid the passage of 
Mr. Thornton, even had it been at his disposal. A collection was taken up, contri- 
butions being made partly in coin but chiefly in flour, clothing, and anything that 




walung-uth-pgrtland-Or. 



Mill Property df Gurney Bros. 
TenMile,DouglasCd. 



OREGON. 165 

could be of service or was convertible into money. A contract was made with Captain 
Roland Gelston, of the bark Whitton, to convey Mr. Thornton to Panama, and the 
\es>el sailed at once for San Francisco, and thence to San Juan, on the coast of Lower 
California. Here the Captain informed his passenger that he must decline to fulfill 
his contract, as he desired to engage in the coasting trade. From the perplexing- 
dilemma he was extricated by Captain Montgomery, commanding the United States 
sloop of war, Portsmouth, then lying at- anchor in the harbor. This gentleman deemed 
the mission of Mr. Thornton of sufficient importance to the government to justify 
him in leaving his station and returning with his vessel to the Atlantic coast. He 
accordingly tendered the delegate the hospitalities of his cabin, and set sail as soon as 
preparations could be made for the voyage. The Portsmouth arrived in Boston harbor 
on the second of May, 1848, and Mr. Thornton at once hastened to Washington to 
consult with President Polk and Senators Benton and Douglas, those warm champions 
of Oregon, as to the proper course to pursue. By them he w T as advised to prepare a 
memorial to be presented to congress, setting forth the condition and needs of the peo- 
ple whom he represented. This he did, and the document was presented to the senate 
by Mr. Benton, and was printed for the use of both branches of congress. Mr. Thorn- 
ton also drafted a bill for organizing a territorial government, w r hich was introduced 
and placed upon its passage. This bill contained a clause prohibiting human slavery, 
and for this reason was as objectionable to the slaveholding force in congress as had 
been the previous one. Under the lead of Senators Jefferson Davis and John C. Cal- 
houn, this wing of the national legislature made a vigorous onslaught upon the bill, 
and fought its progress step by step with unabated determination, resorting to all the 
legislative tactics known, to so delay its consideration that it could not be finally passed 
by the hour of noon on the fourteenth of August, the time fixed by joint resolution for 
the close of that session of congress. 

The contest during the last two days of the session was exciting in the extreme, 
and the feeling intense throughout the Union. The friends of the bill had decided 
upon a policy of " masterly inactivity," refraining entirely from debate and yielding 
the floor absolutely to the " filibusters," who were therefore much distressed for means 
to consume the slowly passing hours. Though silent in speech they were constantly 
present in force to prevent the opposition from gaining time by an adjournment. The 
bill was then on its second passage in the senate, for the purpose of concurrence with 
amendments which had been added by the house. On Saturday morning, August 12, 
the managers of the bill decided to prevent an adjournment until it had been disposed 
of, having a sufficient majority to pass it. The story of that memorable contest is thus 
told by Mr. Thornton, who sat throughout the scene an earnest spectator : 

" I re-entered the senate chamber with the deepest feelings of solicitude, and yet 
hopeful because of the assurances which had been given to me by the gentlemen I have 
named. [Douglas, Benton and Hale.] I soon saw, however, that Calhoun and But- 
ler, of South Carolina; Davis and Foote, of Mississippi; and Hunter and Mason of 
Virginia, as leaders of the opposition, had girded up their loins and had buckled on 
their armor for the battle. The friends of the bill, led by Mr. Benton, having taken 
their position, waited calmly for the onset of their adversaries, who spent Saturday 
until the usual hour of adjournment in skirmishing in force, as if feeling the strength 



1GG OREGON. 

of their opponents. When the motion was made at the usual time in the afternoon for 
adjournment, the friends of the bill came pouring out of the retiring rooms, and on 
coming inside the bar they voted 'No' with very marked emphasis. * * * This 
state of affairs continued until after night. [Here ensued a series of filibustering tactics, 
during which a personal altercation between Judge Butler and Senator Benton came 
near resulting in blows.] General Foote, the collegue of Jeff. Davis, then rose, and in 
a drawling tone assumed for the occasion, said his powers of endurance, he believed, 
would enable him to continue his address to the senate until Monday, 12 o'clock M., 
and although he could not promise to say much on the subject of the Oregon bill, he 
could not doubt that he would be able to interest and greatty edify distinguished sena- 
tors. The friends of the bill, seeing what was before them, posted a page in the door- 
way opening into one of the retiring rooms, and then, after detailing a few of their 
number to keep watch and ward on the floor of the senate, withdrew into the room of 
which I have spoken, to chat and tell anecdotes and to drink wine, or perhaps some- 
thing even much stronger, and thus to wear away the slowly and heavily passing hours 
of that memorable Saturday night. Soon great clouds of smoke filled the room, and 
from it issued the sound of the chink of glasses, and of loud conversation, almost drown- 
ing the eloquence of the Mississippi senator, as he repeated the bible story of the 
cosinogany of the world, the creation of man, the taking from his side of the rib from 
which Eve was made, her talking with the 'snake,' as he called the evil one, the fall of 
man, etc. etc. The galleries were soon deserted. Many of the aged senators prostrated 
themselves upon the sofas in one of the retiring rooms, and slumbered soundly, while 
'thoughts that breathed and words that burned' fell in glowing eloquence from the lips 
of the Mississippi senator, as he continued thus to instruct and edify the few watching 
friends of the bill, who, notwithstanding the weight of seventy years pressed heavily 
upon some of them, were as wide awake as the youngest ; and they sat firm and erect 
in their seats, watching with lynx eyes every movement of the adversaries of the bill. 

"At intervals of about an hour, the speaker would yield the floor to a motion for 
adjournment, coming from the opposition. Then the sentinel page at the door would 
give notice to the waking senators in the retiring room, and these would immediately 
arouse the slumbering senators, and ail would then rush pell mell through the doorway, 
and when the inside of the bar was reached, would vote 'No' with a thundering emphasis. 
Occasionally southern senators, toward Sunday morning, relieved Gen. Foote by short, 
dull sj)eeches, to which the friends of the bill vouchsafed no answers ; so that Mr. Cal- 
houn and his pro-slavery subordinates had things for the most part all their own way 
until Sabbath morning, August 13, 1848, at about eight o'clock, when the leading- 
opponents of the bill collected together in a knot, and after conversing together a short 
time in an undertone, the Mississippi senator who had been so very edifying and enter- 
taining during the night, said that no further opposition would be made to taking a 
vote on the bill. The ayes and nayes were then called and the bill passed." 

Not alone to Mr. Thornton is due the honor of representing Oregon at Washington 
during that long struggle for justice. Another delegate, one with even better creden- 
tials than the first, was there to aid in the work. This was Joseph L. Meek, the moun- 
taineer and trapper whose name is indelibly inscribed upon the early annals of the Pacific 
coast. When the massacre of the martyred Whitman and his associates at Waiilatpu 



OREGON. 107 

plunged the settlers into a state of mingled grief and alarm, it was thought necessary 
to dispatch a messenger at once to Washington to impart the intelligence, impress the 
authorities with the precarious situation of the colony, and appeal for protection. 
Winter had set in with all its vigors in the mountains. The terrible journey made at 
that season six years before by Dr. Whitman, on his patriotic mission, the same person 
whose martyrdom now rendered a second journey necessary, was fresh in the minds of 
all, and appalled the stoutest heart. Mr. Thornton had taken the longer but safer 
route by sea, but time was too precious, too much was at stake, to admit of the delay 
such a journey would impose, even if the vessel were at hand to afford the means. 
Nothing but a trip across the thousands of miles of snow-bound mountains, plains and 
deserts, would be of any avail. In the emergency all turned to Joseph L. Meek as the 
one man in their midst whose intrepid courage, great powers of physical endurance, 
long experience in mountain life and familiarity with the routes of travel and Indian 
tribes to be encountered, rendered him capable of undertaking the task with a good 
prospect of success. Unhesitatingly he accepted the mission, resigned his seat in the 
legislature, received his credentials as a delegate from that body, and set out on the 
fourth of Jauuary for Washington, accompanied by John Owens and George Ebberts, 
who decided to go with him and avail themselves of his services as guide and director. 
At The Dalles they were forced to delay several weeks until the arrival of the Oregon 
volunteers rendered it safe for them to proceed, since the whole upper country was 
overrun bj hostile Indian-. 

They accompanied the troops to Waiilatpu, where Meek had the mournful satis- 
faction of assisting in the burial of the victims of Cayuse treachery, among whom was 
his own daughter, and then were escorted by a company of troops to the base of the 
Blue mountains, where they finally entered upon their long and solitary journey. By 
avoiding the Indians as much as possible, and whenever encountered by them repre- 
senting themselves as Hudson's Bay Company men, they reached Fort Boise in safety- 
Here two of four new volunteers for the journey became discouraged and decided to 
remain. The other five travelers pushed on to Fort Hall, saving themselves from the 
clutch of the Bannacks only by Meek's experience in dealing with the savages. It is 
needless to recount the many hardships they endured, the sleepless nights and dinner- 
less days, the accidents, dangers, fatigues, narrow escapes from hostile Indians and the 
thousand discomforts and misadventures to which they were subjected. It is sufficient 
to say that through all these they passed in safety, never forgetting for an instant the 
imperative necessity for haste, and never flinching from the trials that lay in their 
pathway. The hearty invitation to spend a few weeks here or there in the few places 
where they encountered friends and comfortable quarters, was resolutely declined, and 
with only such delay as was absolutely required, they plunged again into the snowy 
mountain passes with their faces resolutely set towards the rising sun. They reached 
St. Joseph in but little more than two months after leaving the Willamette valley. 
having made the quickest trip across the continent that had been accomplished at any 
season of the year. 

Meek was now reduced to most embarrassing straits. Dressed in buckskin and 
blanket clothes and wolf skin cap, ragged and dirty in the extreme, beard and hair 
long and unkempt, without money or friends, how to get to Washington or how 



168 OEEGON. 

to conduct himself when there, were perplexing questions. His solution of the diffi- 
culty was a characteristic one. By making a clown of himself at one place, by assum- 
ing an air of importance and dignity at another, he succeeded in reaching the city of 
his destination only a week or two later than Mr. Thornton, though his news from 
Oregon was four months fresher than that brought by his predecessor. The united 
labors of these two men brought about the result which has been detailed, the passage 
of the act of August 14, 1848, creating the territory of Oregon. 

President Polk, the staunch friend of Oregon, the man who had been elevated to 
the chief office in the nation amid the universal shout of " Fifty-four- forty -or-fight ! " 
was eager to have the work consummated before the expiration of his term on the fourth 
of the ensuing March. To this end he appointed Meek marshal of the new territory, 
and delegated him to convey a governor's commission to General Joseph Lane, then 
residing in Indiana and unaware of the honor to be conferred, or the sacrifice to be re- 
quired, in which ever light it may be viewed. With that promptness of decision and 
action which was General Lane's distinguishing characteristic, he accepted the com- 
mission on the spot, and in three days had disposed of his property, Avound up his bus- 
iness affairs and begun his journey to the far off wilds of Oregon. They were escorted 
by a detachment of troops, and after a journey of six months, by the way of New 
Mexico and Arizona, seven only of the party reached San Francisco, two having died 
on the route and the others having deserted to try their fortunes in the new gold fields 
of the Sierra. These seven were General Lane, Marshal Meek, Lieutenant Hawkins, 
Surgeon Hayden and three enlisted men. Taking passage in the schooner Jeannette, 
they reached the Columbia river after a tedious voyage of eighteen days, ascended that 
stream to Oregon City, a distance of 120 miles, in small boats, reaching that place, 
then the seat of government, on the second of March, 1849. The following day Gov- 
ernor Lane issued his proclamation and assumed the duties of his office, being but one 
day before the expiration of President Polk's official term. 

The first territorial officers of Oregon were : governor, Joseph Lane ; secretary, 
Kintzing Pritchett ; treasurer, James Taylor ; auditor, B. Gervais ; chief justice, Wil- 
liam P. Bryant ; associate justices, O. C. Pratt and P. A. Burnett ; United States 
marshal, Joseph L. Meek ; superintendent of common schools, James McBride ; libra- 
rian, W. T. Matlock ; territorial printer, Wilson Blain ; commissioner of Cay use war 
claims, A. A. Skinner. All of these officials, save the governor, secretary, marshal and 
judges, were appointed by the legislature when it convened in the fall. 

General Lane appointed census marshals as provided for in the organic act, who 
reported the population of the territory as shown in the following table: 



*vm 



n,|- 




_ □ 




r- < 




m rn 




to . 




> 




ZZ 




• a 




m 






Sfc_ 


O CD 




-n a: 




C_2 




CD . 




Hanle 
ksonvi 




F.-< 


- gJFt"^-" "* 


m 3> 




fc-8 




> 




ci -n 




=K CD 




an 33 




a s 




2 m 


. 


c-3=o 




o n 




- -< 




o 




-n 




S 




33 




00 




S 




>• 






v--e*i -^t^ 


n 




3C 


r** 


3> 




3 




00 




m 




DO 

CD 


JBR 



l&V&iS.' J.SST 






; 




— 



OREGON. 



109 



( Iensus OF 18 111. 



COUNTIES. 



Clackamas 401 

Tualatin 340 

Champoeg 405 

Clatsop 49 

Yamhill 394 

Polk 337 

Lewis 39 

Linn 295 

Benton 271 

Vancouver 4 



p ° 

CO 

cc u 

CD e5 

r3 a> 



Total I 2001 2523 ! 3027 



390 
293 
458 
100 
402 
327 

33 
209 
229 

22 



02 ® 

<o bo 

-3 rt 



a) 



585 
4G 8 
047 

75 
557 
509 

37 
359 
370 

20 



Foreigners. 



rf ^3 






a> O 



12 

23 

94 

3 

8 

1 

31 



39 



15 211 



CO <b 

a bo 

a^ 

ft 



8 
13 

4 

4 

12 



a a 

a a, 
2 N 

o 
H 



1370 

1107 

1570 

224 

1353 

1173 

109 

923 

870 

80 



Us 

•^ CD 



o 

H 



17 

35 

112 

3 

15 

1 

30 



79 



40 8795 298 9083 



o 



1393 

1142 

1082 

227 

1308 

1174 

145 

923 

870 

159 



Subsequent to the departure of Thornton and Meek upon their mission to Wash- 
ington, but prior to the return of the latter with Governor Lane, a new era set in on 
the Pacific coast. On the nineteenth of January, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered 
gold on the south fork of the American river, in California. Marshall had come to 
Oregon in the immigration of 1844, and. had the next year passed south into Cali- 
fornia, where he entered the employment of Captain John A. Sutter, who had crossed 
the plains to Oregon in 1838 and to California by way of the Sandwich islands in'1839. 
In the fall of 1847, Marshall went up into the Sierras east of Sutter's settlement of 
New Helvetia (Sacramento), and began building a saw mill for his employer, which 
was nearly completed at the time he accidentally discovered gold in the tail race. All 
California was excited by the discovery, and nearly every able-bodied man abandoned 
everything and hastened to the mines. The intelligence did not reach Oregon until 
the following August, and the effect upon such a class of adventurous spirits as com- 
posed the pioneers can well be imagined. There was at once a great rush for Cali- 
fornia, and it looked as though Oregon would be deserted and relegated back to the 
dominion of the Hudson's Bay Company and* Indians. This, however, was but tem- 
porary. Family and business ties held many back and hastened the return of others, 
many bringing with them heavy sacks of the yellow treasure. What had at first 
promised to be an overwhelming calamity soon proved a bountiful blessing. Thous- 
ands of men poured into California from every quarter of the world, and a brisk 
demand at once sprung up for the grain, flour, vegetables and food products of all 
kinds which Oregon could produce in abundance, but for which no market had pre- 
viously existed. California gold began to pour into Oregon in a steady stream, com- 
merce began to assume large proportions, a custom house was established at Astoria, 
and this region made great strides on the road to wealth and prosperity. This sudden 
increase in business gave rise to a direct infringement of the constitutional prohibition 
of the coinage of money by state governments or individuals, and this forms one of 
the most interesting episodes of Oregon history. 



170 OREGON. 

During the winter of 1848-9 people began straggling back from the California 
mines, bringing with them sacks of gold dust. As a circulating medium gold in such 
a shape was inconvenient and certain to decrease in quantity as it passed from hand to 
hand, and an ounce was only called the equivalent of eleven dollars in trade, though 
intrinsically worth at least sixteen. Commerce and business generally suffered much 
inconvenience from the lack of coin, and to remedy the evil the legislature passed an 
act providing for the " assaying, melting, and coining of gold." The advent of Gov- 
ernor Lane and the decease of the provisional government, operated to render the act 
void before it could be carried into effect. Still the necessity for money increased, and 
the want was supplied by private enterprise. A company was organized by responsible 
and wealthy men, which issued five and ten dollar " Beaver " coins, bearing on one 
side the figure of a beaver, over which appeared the initial letters of the names of the 
members of the company — Kilbourn, Magruder, Taylor, Abernethy, Wilson, Rector, 
Campbell, Smith — and underneath " O. T. 1849." .On the reverse side was : " Oregon 
Exchange Company, 130 Grains Native Gold, 5 D.," or " 10 pwts, 20 grains, 10 D." 
The dies by which the coins were stamped were made by Hamilton Campbell, and the 
press and rolling machinery by William Rector. The workmanship was quite credit- 
able. The intrinsic worth of these coins being greater than their representative value, 
they quickly passed from circulation when the government coins appeared in quantity, 
and are now only to be found in the keeping of pioneers, in the cabinets of curiosity 
preservers or the collections of numismatologists. 

During the next four years the progress of the territory was marked. In 1851 
gold was found to exist in great quantities in Southern Oregon, and that region soon 
teemed with a restless population of miners. Towns and cities sprung up, and the fer- 
tile valley lands were located on by settlers and brought under the dominion of the 
plow. These changes were accompanied by the inevitable trouble with the native 
owners of the soil, and the scenes of horror which marked them are recounted in other 
chapters. 

By the act of March 3, 1853, congress set off the territory of Washington from 
that of Oregon, and gave to it a separate political existence. Oregon at that time con- 
tained 341,000 square miles, equal in area to the six great states of Indiana, Illinois, 
Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, by far too large for admission into the Union 
as a single state. Through it ran the great Columbia river, dividing it into nearly 
equal parts from the ocean to Fort Walla Walla, where it made a long sweep to the 
north and east. That portion of the territory lying north and west of this great stream 
was called Northern Oregon, and within it were a number of small settlements, which 
included a population, "Quite as great," declared Joseph Lane in congress, "as the 
whole of Oregon at the period of its organization into a territory." In 1833 the fort 
at Nisqually, near the head of Puget sound, was located by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, and soon after the Puget Sound Agricultural Company began to graze cattle 
and sheep in the vicinity, and to cultivate the lands. These were guarded by the 
stockade and buildings afterwards occupied by U. S. troops, and known as Fort Steila- 
coom. In 1838 the Rev. F. N. Blanchet and Rev. M. Demers, of the Society of Jesus 
of the Roman Catholic faith, established a mission at Fort Vancouver, and soon after 
one was located on Cowlitz prairie near a post that had been established by the Hud- 



OREGON. 171 

son's Bay Company. In L839 the Methodists by Revs. David Leslie and W. H. 
Wilson, and the Catholics by Father Demers, each established missions at Nisqually. 

It was the desire of Great Britain, during the decade previous to the treaty of 
184(>, to have the Columbia river declared the boundary line between its possessions 
and those of the United States. To this end efforts of the Hudson's Bay Company 
were directed, and they looked with disfavor upon the making of any settlements north 
of that stream by Americans. Nevertheless, in 1844, Col. M. T. Simmons made an 
unsuccessful attempt to reach Puget sound, having crossed the plains the year before. 
In 1845, with a few companions, he renewed his efforts and located at the head of the 
sound, where the Des Chutes river empties into Budd's inlet. Their little settlement 
was called New Market, now the town of Tumwater, but a mile from Olympia. To 
this, no active opposition was made by the company ; and in the few following years 
many other Americans located along the Cowlitz and other streams, and about the 
head of the sound. The immigrants brought out by the company from the Red river 
settlements in 1841, whose arrival created so much anxiety in the minds of the Amer- 
icans, located chiefly on the Cowlitz, in accordance with the plan of making the 
Columbia the dividing line. 

June 27, 1844, the Oregon Provisional Government designated all the territory 
north and west of the Columbia, Vancouver county ; but owing to the settlements 
alluded to, that portion lying west of the Cowlitz was made Lewis county ; and the 
name of Clarke was given to Vancouver county in. 1849. 

Captain Lafayette Beach founded Steilacoom in January, 1851. In February of 
the same year Pacific county was created, because of the thriving settlements of Pacific 
City and Chinook that had sprung up on the north bank of the Columbia, near its 
mouth. In April, 1851, Port Townsend was located. Congress ertablished the Puget 
Sound Collection District February 14, 1851, and a custom house was located during 
the year at Olympia, then the only town on the sound. On the third of November, 
1851, the sloop Georgiana, Captain Rowland, sailed with twenty-two passengers for 
Queen Charlotte's island, where gold had been discovered. On the nineteenth the 
vessel was cast ashore on the east side of the island, was plundered by the Indians, and 
the crew and passengers were held in captivity. Upon receipt of the news, the col- 
lector of customs at Olympia dispatched the Damariseove, Captain Balch, with a force 
of volunteers and U. S. troops from Fort Steilacoom, which had been garrisoned after 
the treaty of 1840. The schooner sailed on the eighteenth of December, and returned 
to Olympia with- the rescued men the last day of January, 1852. 

In 1852 a superior article of coal was found, something much needed on the coast, 
and capital was at once invested in developing the mines. Three saw mills were built 
on the sound ; and during the year quite extensive shipments of coal, lumber and fish 
were made. Many claims were taken up on the fine agricultural lands, and all the ele- 
ments for a vigorous growth were collected there. The chief settlements then in North- 
ern Oregon were : Pacific City ; Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company headquarters, 
consisting of 100 houses occupied by its employees, chiefly Kanakas, enclosed by 
picket fences, and defended by armed bastions and a blockhouse ; Forts Walla Walla, 
Okinagan and Colville, further up the Columbia ; Olympia, a new town on the sound; 
Fort Nisqually on the sound, occupied by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, who 



172 OREGON. 

owned extensive farms and supplied provisions to the Hudson's Bay Company, besides 
shipping products to the Sandwich islands and the Russian post at Sitka. These with 
many settlements along the sound and between it and the Columbia, formed a section 
distinct from Oregon proper, with which they had no community of interest, and from 
whom, being in the minority in the legislature, they were unable to obtain many of 
the rights they deemed themselves entitled to. Many of them were 500 miles from 
the seat of the territorial government. 

In September, 1852, the Columbian began publication in Olympia, and advocated 
the formation of a new territory, expressing the wish of a majority of the people in the 
Sound country. As to those east of the Cascades, they were so few in number, most of 
them belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, that they cared little about the matter. 
A convention of delegates from counties north of the river met at a little settlement on 
the Cowlitz called Monticello, to consider the question, November 25, 1852, A mem- 
orial to congress was prepared, stating the condition of this region and asking that body 
to create the territory of Columbia, out of that portion of Oregon lying north and west 
of the Columbia river. There was no conflict in this matter, the people of Oregon 
south of the river raising no objection to the proposed change. In fact, delegate Joseph 
Lane, living in Southern Oregon and elected by the votes of that section, procured the 
passage of the bill in congress. He first introduced the subject on the sixth of Decem- 
ber, 1852, by procuring the passage of a resolution instructing the committee on ter- 
ritories to consider the question and report a bill. The committee reported House Bill 
No. 8, to organize the territory of Columbia, which came upon the eighth of February, 
1853. Mr. Lane made a short speech and introduced the citizens' memorial signed by 
G. N. McCanaher, president of the convention, R. J. White, its secretary, and Quincy 
A. Brooks, Charles S. Hathaway, C. H. Winslow, John B. Jackson. D. S. Maynard, 
F. A. Clarke, and others. Richard H. Stanton, of Kentucky, moved to substitute the 
name of " Washington " for " Columbia," saying that we already had a District of 
Columbia while the name of the father of our country had been given to no territory 
in it. With this amendment the bill was passed through the house on the tenth with 
128 votes for and 29 against it. On the second of March, it was adopted by the 
senate and received the President's signature the following clay. 

The act created a territory more than twice the size asked for in the memorial 
being " All that portion of Oregon Territory lying and being south of the forty-ninth 
degree of north latitude, and north of the middle main channel of the Columbia river, 
from its mouth to where the forty-sixth degree of north latitude crosses said river near 
Fort Walla Walla , thence with said forty-sixth degree of latitude to the summit of the Rocky 
mountains." This included all of Washington Territory as it now stands, and a portion 
of Idaho and Montana. The act was in the usual form creating territories, and pro- 
vided for a governor, to be ex-officio commander-in-chief of militia and superinten- 
dent of Indian affairs, a secretary, a supreme court of three judges, an attorney, and 
a marshal, all to be appointed by the President for a term of four years. It also 
called for a delegate to congress, whose first term was to last only during the congress 
to which he was elected. A territorial legislature was created, with two branches — a 
council with nine members and a term of three years, the first ones to serve one, two 
and three years as decided by lot among them ; and a house of eighteen members, with 



OREGON. 173 

a term of one year, to be increased from time to time to not more than thirty. Twenty 
thousand dollars were appropriated to defray the expenses of a census, after the taking 
of which the Governor was to apportion the members of the legislature and call an 
election to choose them and the delegate to congress. The first legislature was to 
meet at any place the Governor might select, and was then to fix the seat of govern- 
ment itself; $5,000 were apportioned for public buildings, and the same amount for a 
library. County and local officers then serving were to hold their positions until suc- 
cessors were chosen under acts to be passed by the legislature of the new territory. 
Causes were to be transferred from the Oregon courts, and the territory was to be 
divided into three districts, in each of which one of the supreme judges was to hold a 
district court. Sections 16 and 36 of the public lands, or their equivalent, were given 
the territory for the benefit of public schools. 

Soon after his inauguration President Pierce appointed Major Isaac I. Stevens, 
United States engineer, governor ; Charles H. Mason, of Rhode Island, secretary ; J. 
S. Clendenin, of Mississippi, attorney ; J. Patton Anderson, of Tennessee, marshal ; 
Edward Lander, of Indiana, chief justice ; Victor Monroe, of Kentucky, and O. B. 
McFadden, of Pennsylvania, associate justices. Marshal Anderson arrived early in 
the summer, and took the census provided for in the act, returning a total population of 
3,965, of whom 1,682 were voters. Governor Stevens was in charge of the expedition 
sent out by the war department to survey a northern route for a trans-continental rail- 
road, and was thus occupied all the summer and fall. Upon crossing the boundary 
line of the new territory September 29, 1853, he issued a proclamation from the sum- 
mit of the Rocky mountains, declaring the act of congress and assuming his duties as 
executive. He arrived in Olympia in November, and on the twenty-eighth issued a 
second proclamation, dividing the territory into judicial and legislative districts and 
calling an election the following January. Until this time the counties north of the 
Columbia had constituted the second judicial district of Oregon, William H. Strong, 
associate justice, presiding. They were Clarke, Lewis, Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, King, 
and Jefferson, all but the first three having been created by the Oregon legislature 
during the session of 1852-3. 

The legislature chosen in January assembled at Olympia the following month ; 
and in accordance with provisions of the organic act, chose that place for the permanent 
seat of government.. They created ten counties, retaining the name and general loca- 
tion of those set off by the Oregon legislature. The counties were Clarke, Lewis, 
Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, King, Jefferson, Island, Chehalis, Clallam, Cowlitz, Sawamish 
(now Mason), Skamania, Wahkiakum, and Walla Walla. Among these, the repre- 
sentation in the assembly was apportioned, and the territory was divided into judicial 
districts. The legislature adopted a code of procedure, substantially the same as in 
force at the present time. At the election in January, Columbia Lancaster, first chief 
justice of the Oregon provisional government, was chosen delegate to congress by 
the democrats, his whig opponent being Col. William H. Wallace. During the first 
two years, considerable annoyance was caused by hostile incursions into northern por- 
tions of the territory by Indians from British Columbia. Some difficulty was expe- 
rienced, also, with Indians at home, but the energetic action of Governor Stevens and 
the troops at Fort Steilacoom prevented a serious outbreak until the fall of 1855, when 



174 OREGON. 

the Oregon-Washington Indian war was begun and waged with great expense to both 
territories. Hostilities were begu n about the same time by the powerful Indian tribes of the 
Columbia river and those of Southern Oregon, which taxed to the utmost the resources 
and power of the two territories and that portion of the United States army stationed 
on the coast. The simultaneous beginning of hostilities in these two sections, so widely 
separated, has been pointed to by many as an evidence of a conspiracy between the 
natives of Rogue river valley and Columbia river ; but the coincidence seems to be the 
only evidence of such a combination. The causes which led to the outbreak along- 
Rogue river, and the events of the long campaign which followed, are detailed with 
great minuteness in succeeding chapters, and seem to be sufficient in themselves to 
account for the outbreak there, and to that narrative the reader is referred. The 
trouble at the north seems to have had its origin in an entirely different chain of causes. 

Governor Stevens, soon after entering upon his career as chief executive of Wash- 
ington, deemed it judicious to exercise his authority as ex-officio Indian agent, and 
make treaties with the powerful tribes east of the Cascades. To this step he was 
especially urged by the fact that in March, 1855, gold was discovered on Clarke's Fork, 
near its entrance into the Columbia. For miners to straggle through the Indian 
country, without a special treaty having been made, he knew was but to court the 
commission of murder by the native proprietors. He at once opened negotiations, and 
on the ninth of June secured the cession of the greater portion of Eastern Wash- 
ington and a slice of Oregon, excepting the Umatilla and Yakima reservations. The 
treaty was signed by the chiefs of the fourteen tribes comprising the Yakima nation, 
including the Palouse Indians, and by the Cayuses, Walla Wallas and Umatillas. 
With the treaty none of the Indians were satisfied, and especially Kama-i-akun, head 
chief of the Yakimas, and Peo-peo-mux-mux, the great Walla Walla chieftain. They 
felt that they had been bribed to sell their country, and were resentful and bitter. 
This was followed by similar treaties with the Nez Perces, Flatheads and the tribes 
living south of the Columbia between The Dalles and Umatilla river. Governor 
Stevens then crossed the mountains to treat with the powerful and warlike Blackfeet. 

In the fall of 1875 several men who were passing through the Yakima country, on 
their way from the Sound to the Colville mines, were killed by the Indians. Among 
the killed was the Indian agent, A. J. Bolan, who had gone to inquire into the circum- 
stances of the death of the other men. Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter, with forty men, 
started across the mountains from Fort Steilacoom late in September, and Major G. O. 
Haller marched south from The Dalles with a force of more than one hundred men, 
to co-operate with him. Major Haller engaged the Indians on Simcoe creek, was 
forced to retreat to the summit of a hill, where he was surrounded by the enemy. He 
dispatched a courier in haste to procure aid, but before it could reach him his force was 
driven from the Indian country with considerable loss. Upon receipt of the intelli- 
gence of this disaster, Major G. J. Raines, commander of the post at Vancouver, ad- 
dressed communications to Governor George L. Curry, of Oregon, and Acting Gov- 
ernor C. H. Mason, of Washington, requesting the aid of volunteer troops, since the 
national forces were entirely inadequate to meet the emergencies. Two companies were 
raised in Washington, which were mustered into the regular army, while the ten com- 
panies recruited in Oregon retained their volunteer organization, being under the com- 






OREGON. 175 

mand of Colonel J. W. Nesmith. This division of authority led to a want of cordial 
co-operation and consequent futility of action. Sixteen other companies were organ- 
ized at various places in Washington territory, chiefly for home protection. 

Lieutenant Slaughter, having withdrawn back across the Cascades, his force was in- 
creased, and on the twenty-fourth of October again started for the Yakima country, 
under the command of Captain M. Maloney. He soon learned that no troops had 
started from The Dalles to co-operate with him. and fearing to be caught in the moun- 
tains by snow he returned to Steilacoom. Before his dispatch, announcing this fact, 
reached The Dalles, Major Raines and Colonel Nesmith had jointly marched north- 
ward to form a junction with him. After an engagement, in which Kama-i-akun's 
warriors were defeated, the Indians abandoned the country and the troops, 
learning that Captain Maloney had returned to Steilacoom and required no assistance, 
marched back to The Dalles, having been absent about three weeks. 

Prior to the return of these two commands, another force of volunteers marched 
up the Columbia towards Fort Walla Walla, where Peo-peo-rnux-mux, was reported to 
be stationed with 1,000 warriors. Other volunteers marched to join them, the whole 
force being placed under the command of Lieut. Colonel James K. Kelly. This move- 
ment was especially designed to clear the route of hostile Indians and permit the safe 
return of Governor Stevens from east of the Rocky mountains, that gentleman being 
already on his way back and ignorant of the existing hostilities. In this movement 
General John E. Wool, commander of the department of the Pacific, who had hastened 
to the scene from San Francisco, refused to participate with the regular troops, deeming 
a winter campaign unnecessary and unlikely to be successful. Nothing daunted, the 
Oregon volunteers proceeded alone, having a force of about 500 men. 

A great battle was fought along Walla Walla river, which lasted three days and 
resulted in the complete defeat of the Indians, whose loss was reported at seventy-five. 
The troops lost seven killed and mortally wounded, and thirteen wounded. Among 
the dead on the Indian side was the great Peo-peo-mux-mux, who at the time of the 
battle was a hostage in the hands of the whites, and was shot during the excitement 
incident to the battle. The Indians then withdrew from the country, leaving it in the 
possession of the volunteers, who spent the winter there, suffering many hardships. 
Governor Stevens returned in safety and immedia'tely preferred charges against General 
Wool, accusing him of incapacity' and willful neglect of duty. 

During the winter the settlements along Puget sound suffered severely from the 
ravages of Indians. Seattle was attacked, and all of King county beyond the limits of 
that place was devastated. Volunteers, regular troops, Indian auxiliaries and the small 
naval force on the sound, occupied block houses at all the important points from the 
Cowlitz to Bellingham bay, but did not engage in a regular campaign, since the hostile 
savages were not gathered in a large body as were those east of the mountains, but 
roamed about in small bands, destroying property and killing settlers wherever they 
could be found unprotected. The population, to a great extent, were collected in block 
houses for safety. Early in March, 1856, the Oregon volunteers who had occupied the 
"Walla Walla country during the winter, again entered upon an aggressive campaign, under 
the command of Colonel Thomas R. Cornelius. After considerable traveling about north 
of Snake river the command crossed the Columbia near the mouth of the Yakima and 



176 OREGON. 

followed down the west bank to Fort Walla Walla. From there they started upon their 
return to The Dalles, passing through the Yakima country. On the seventeenth of 
April, near Satas creek, the Yakima Indians suddenly attacked the advance forces, 
killing Captain A. J. Hembree, but were repulsed with the loss of two braves. An 
engagement ensued, in which six Indians were killed and the others driven from the 
field, without any loss to the volunteers. The troops then marched to The Dalles, 
going into camp in Klickitat valley. While there fifty of Kama-i-akun's warriors 
made a descent upon the camp and captured 300 horses. Thus summarily dismounted, 
the volunteers were mustered out and returned to their homes. 

Before this, however, important events occurred nearer home. A railway portage 
was under construction between the lower and upper Cascades of the Columbia, on the 
Washington territory side of the river, and quite a force of men was at work. On the 
morning of March 16, a band of Yakima Indians made a sudden attack upon the'Upper 
Cascades. The men retreated hostility to a combined store and dwelling on the river 
bank and defended themselves successfully till aid arrived two days later. On the 
morning of the third clay the steamers Mary and Wasco arrived from The Dalles loaded 
clown with troops, and the Indians hastily decamped. A like siege was sustained by 
parties in the block house at Middle Cascades, and quite a battle was fought at the 
lower landing. In all fifteen men and one woman were killed and twelve were wounded. 
How many Indians were killed is not known, but nine of them were hanged for their 
treachery immediately afterwards. 

Colonel George Wright marched north from The Dalies in May 'for the pur- 
pose of driving the Indians out of the Cascade mountains and across the Columbia 
eastward. Early in July volunteers from the sound pushed across the mountains with- 
out encountering the enemy, and united at Fort Walla Walla with another battalion 
which had proceeded from The Dalles. The whole force numbered 350 enlisted men, 
and was under the command of Colonel B. F. Shaw. With a portion of his force Colonel 
Shaw crossed the Blue mountains and fought a severe battle on Grand Ronde river 
on the seventeenth of July. At the same time another detachment encountered 
the hostiles on Burnt river, and had an engagement with them, lasting two clays. 
Some fifty Indians were killed in these two battles, while the loss of the volunteers was 
five killed and five wounded. Meanwhile, unable to concert terms of peace with Kama- 
i-akun, Colonel Wright marched his force of regulars back to The Dalles. 

In the fall Colonel Wright dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel E. J. Steptoe with sev- 
eral conrpanies to establish a military post at Walla Walla. Governor Stevens pro- 
ceeded to that region, and had an unsuccessful council with the hostiles. When he set 
out upon his return, he was attacked by the Indians, and his small command defended 
itself all day and until relieved by the regulars. In November Colonel Wright re- 
turned with a detachment of regulars and established a military post at Walla Walla, 
and held a council at which he procured a cessation of hostilities by promising the 
Indians immunity for past offenses and agreeing to prevent white settlers from enter- 
ing their country. It was a practical victory for the Indians. In November Puget 
sound was invaded by water by a band of northern Indians, who committed many dej)- 
redations ; but they were severely defeated and driven away by the naval forces sta- 
tioned there to guard the sound country. 






4- 



% "i 






/f-^X 




INDIAN WARS. 



CHAPTER XX. 



INDIANS OF SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Relative Importance of the Subject — Material for Writing: History— Common Origin of Indian Wars— Brief 
Account of Indian Tribal Affinities — Modocs, Klamaths, Shastas and Rogue Rivers were Related — Habits 
of Life — Umpqua Indians — Decadence — Invasion of Klickitats — Sources of Information — Aboriginal Desig- 
nations. 

Among those episodes which lend interest to the history of Southern Oregon, the 
series of hostile acts which we collectively style the Rogue river wars, undoubtedly, 
possess the greatest interest. The period of the occurrence of these events is so com- 
paratively recent that their recollection is yet fresh in the minds of many who partici- 
pated therein, and there are persons not yet beyond the middle years of life to whom 
they were once a present reality. To write a history of those wars is the task which 
the writer now assigns himself, confident that the collection and preservation of the 
existing memorials and recollections of the stirring scenes of Indian hostility will prove 
a work of public and acknowledged value. For such a work ample materials exist ; 
official documents, reports of military attaches, newspaper accounts, memorials of gov- 
erning bodies, the acts of legislative assemblages, but chiefly the personal recollections 
of eyewitnesses, make up a vast mass of evidence extraordinarily perfect in scope and 
thoroughness. From such resources the compilation of a history sufficiently detailed 
to interest those previously acquainted with its subject, and sufficiently ample in scope 
to form a useful addition to the records of the Pacific coast, would seem an easy task 
requiring but the common attributes of the historical writer — industry and conscien- 
tiousness. Under such circumstances it has seemed possible to trace with considerable 
minuteness the occurrences of the wars ; and it will probably be more in consonance 
with the desires of the readers of this book if the writer describe in detail this inter- 
esting contest, instead of confining himself in the manner of a philosophical disserta- 
tion, to those salient instances in which the tendency of the age is most strikingly 
manifested. 

It will doubtless occur to the attentive reader who rises from a perusal of this ac- 
count, that there was nothing extraordinary in this war ; that there were no distinguish- 
ing circumstances connected with it that raise its history above the account of an 
ordinarv Indian war ; that it was a struggle, similar in all respects, save names, time 

23 



178 INDIAN WARS. 

and place, to each of those innumerable contests by which the American settler has 
won his way to the possession of his home, and driven forward the bounds of civiliza- 
tion from State to State, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In no essential does it seem 
to differ from the desperate and bloody contests waged against the Indians of Massa- 
chusetts, of New York, of Ohio, of Florida, of Kentucky, and of a dozen other States, 
where the blood of the early settlers was poured out in vindication of the grand prin- 
ciple of Caucasian progressiveness. For the white and the red races are equally 
unconformable to each other's habits of life, and meet only to repeat the old story of 
white conquest and native subjection. Still there is much in each individual account 
of stern and bloody Indian warring to enchain the reader's attention, unwearied by 
the hackneyed repetition of sanguinary fight or hair-breadth escape. So we find it in 
the Rogue river wars ; a generation has passed, but the oft-told story of a woman's 
heroic defense of her hearth, or the terrible massacre of innocents, has rather gained 
than lost in interest, and every brave Tecumseh, King Philip, Red Jacket, Black 
Hawk or Osceola is matched in the exploits of Old John, Joe, Sam and Limpy, hum- 
bler savages though they were, and living in a prosaic age which has not told in song 
their deeds. 

To discover romance or any elevated qualities in an Indian distance is required. 
Thus separated from living aborigines by the breadth of a state, Fennimore Cooper 
was enabled to give those inimitable portrayals of the American Indian which through 
half a century have been unrecognized. Other writers have found their keynote in a 
depreciation of the savage ; but the j>eople of southern Oregon, long ago sated of the 
Indian, will join the writer in denying to him any useful or civilizable qualities, but 
will make partial amends by conceding to him — at least to the tribe of Rogue Rivers — 
bravery and steadfastness on the battle-field, and patience and perseverance in the 
worst straits to which he was reduced by war. To make a less acknowledgment 
were to do discredit to the troops by whom the red men were conquered, and to those 
others who sustained and repelled their assaults during the years of hostility. To ren- 
der this much of justice to an enemy who can no longer ask it, is befitting, nor does it 
detract from the credit of the stronger race. It seems a creditable and worthy thing 
that a man should have so strong a sense of right that, disregarding the feelings of 
friendship and his own personal prejudices, he could write or read the truth under all 
circumstances. In an attempt to tell the exact truth this account was composed ; in 
the same spirit may it be read. 

The principal tribes with whom our history has to deal were the Rogue Rivers, 
Shastas, Klamaths, Modocs and Umjoquas. Among the first four are found strong 
race affinities, and they spoke dialects of the same language. Their localities ad- 
joined, their intercommunication was frequent, and in time of war they often fought 
side by side. For a detailed description of these savages, see Mr. Bancroft's work on the 
Native Races of the Pacific Coast, wherein is embraced an enormous quantity of in- 
formation bearing upon the subject. The four tribes first mentioned abode in the 
contiguous valleys of the Rogue, Klamath, Shasta and Scott rivers and their 
affluents, and in the vicinity of Klamath, Tule, Clear and Goose lakes. The country 
about the three latter belonging exclusively to the Modocs, whose habitations were 
mainly in California. The Rogue river valley was occupied, previous to the advent 



INDIAN WARS. 179 

of the whites, by the powerful and important tribe known by the name of the river. 
Branches of the tribe, more or less corrupted by intermixture with the neighboring 
Umpquas and others, lived on the Illinois, Applegate, Big Butte and other tributary 
streams, always paying to the head chief of the tribe the allegiance customary to the 
aboriginal headship. Along the Klamath river and about Klamath lake dwelt a 
strong tribe, generally known as the Klamaths. The Shastas had their home about 
the base of the great mountain of that name. These four tribes, apparently equally 
numerous and powerful, formed, with others, what Bancroft has styled the Klamath 
family. " This family is in every way superior to the more southern tribes. In phys- 
ique and character they approached more nearly to the Indians of eastern Oregon than 
to the degraded and weak tribes of central California. The Rogue River Indians were 
an exception to the general rule of deterioration on approaching the coast, for in their 
case the tendency to improve toward the north held good ; so that they were in many 
respects superior to those of the interior. 

" The Klamaths formerly were tall, well-made and muscular, with complexions 
varying from black to light brown, according to their proximity to large bodies of 
water. Their faces were large, oval and heavily moulded, with slightly prominent 
cheek bones ; nose well set and eyes keen and bright. The women were short and 
sometimes quite handsome, even in a Caucasian sense." Powers, in the Overland 
Monthly, wrote of the Klamaths : " Their stature is a trifle less than Americans ; they 
have well sized bodies strong and well knit. With their smooth skins, oval faces, 
plump and brilliant eyes, some of the young maidens — barring the tattooed skins — 
have a piquant and splendid beauty." Gibbs, in Schoolcraft's Archaeology, says : 
" Many of the women were exceedingly pretty, having large, almond shaped eyes, 
sometimes of a hazel color, and with the red showing through the cheeks. Their fig- 
ures were full, their chests ample ; and the young ones had well shaped busts and 
rounded limbs." On the other hand most travelers have failed to remark any special 
beauty in these tribes, and some have characterized the women as " clumsy, but not 
ill-favored." 

As for clothing, the men of the Klamath family anciently wore only a belt, some- 
times a breech-clout, and the women an apron or skirt of deer skin or braided grass. 
In colder weather they threw over their shoulders a cloak or robe of marten or rabbit 
skins sewn together, deer skin, or among the coast tribes sea-otter or seal skin. They 
tattooed themselves, the men on the chest and arms, the women on the face in three 
blue lines extending perpendicularly from the centre and corners of the mouth to the 
chin. In some few localities, more especially near the lakes, the men painted them- 
selves in various colors and grotesque patterns. 

Their houses were of designs common to many tribes. Their winter dwellings, 
varying with locality, were principally of two forms, conical and square. Those of the 
former shape prevailed most widely and were thus built : A circular hole, from two to 
five feet deep and of variable width, was dug. Round this pit or cellar stout poles 
were driven into the ground, which being drawn together at the top, formed the rafters 
of the building. A covering of earth several inches deep was placed over the rafters, 
a hole was left at the top to serve both as door and chimney, to which rude ladders 
composed of notched poles gave access. Some houses were built of heavy timber form- 



180 INDIAN WAES. 

ing a bee-hive shaped structure. The temporary summer houses of these tribes were 
square, conical or conoidal in shape, by driving light poles perpendicularly into the 
ground and laying others across them, or by drawing the upper ends together at the 
top. Huts having the shape of an inverted bowl were built by driving both ends of 
poles into the ground. These frames, however sha])ed,were covered with neatly woven 
tide matting, or with bushes and ferns. The ground beneath was sometimes scooped out 
and thrown up in a low circular embankment. 

The men of the tribes were usually practiced hunters. A portion of their food 
during a great part of the year was the wild game of the forest, and this they approached 
and captured with considerable adroitness. The elk, too large and powerful to be taken 
by bows and arrows, was sometimes snared; and the same fate befell the deer and ante- 
lope. The bear was far beyond the power of the natives when their only weapons were 
the bow and arrow, but after their acquisition of the white man's rifle, they have hunted 
bruin with success. The last grizzly bear ever seen west of the Cascades was killed in 
1877, by Don Pedro, a Klamath, near White Rock Butte, east of Roseburg. 

Fishing was a more congenial and more productive occupation than hunting. Its 
results were more certain, and in the prolific waters of the Klamath and Rogue, more 
abundant as well. Several methods were in vogue for taking fish. Sometimes a dam 
of interwoven twigs was |)laced across a rapid so as to intercept the salmon in their 
periodical visits to deposit their spawn. Within niches suitably contrived the fish 
collected and were speared. These dams often required an immense amount of work 
in their construction, especially if upon a large stream. On Rogue river the fish were 
speared by torchlight in a manner similar to that in use in Canada and the far north. 
Many trout were taken from small streams by beating the water with brush, whereby 
the fish were driven into confined spans and dipped out. Bancroft says : "When preserved 
for winter use, the fish were sj^lit open on the back, the bones taken out, and then dried 
or smoked. Both meat and fish, when eaten fresh, are either broiled on hot stones, or 
boiled in water-tight baskets into which hot stones are thrown to make the water 
boil. Bread is made of acorns ground to flour in a stone mortar with a heavv stone 
pestle, and baked in the ashes. Acorn flour is the principal ingredient, but berries of 
various kinds are usually mixed in, and frequently seasoned with some high-flavored 
herb. A sort of pudding is also made in the same manner, but it is boiled instead of 
baked." 

The Indians gathered a great variety of roots, berries and seeds which they made 
use of for food. The principal root used was the camas, great quantities of which were 
collected and dried during summer and stored for the coming winter's provision. This 
is a bulbous root much like an onion, and is familiar to nearly every old resident of 
Oregon. Another root called Icice or hace was held in high esteem ; it was bulbous, 
about an inch long, of a bitterish taste like ginseng. The ip-ar e-pua or e-par root was 
a prominent article of diet and grew abundantly upon the banks of the Rogue and 
other rivers. There were several varieties of grass seeds, the huckle-berry, black-berry, 
salmon-berry, squaw-berry, manzanita-berry and perhaps others, which entered into 
the diet of the Indian generally, or as governed by the locality in which they grew. 
At Klamath lake the pond lily grows in profusion ; and its seeds, called wo-cus by the 
savages, formed an article of diet of which they were very fond. The women, as is 



jj 



s ■ -' ■ : ; 



>' 


' , -','--i- f - t -' ■ 


3D 


■h-Wi$ 


s 


fg&A*; 


=o 


l&^&i 


rn 




en 




a 




m 


■ 


z 


VK-*' 


o 


'-'^v-,i'>.., 


m 




o 




:g 


•-■'i^'U ''- i • ' 


31 




en 




c_ 


•i^v ■. 


> 


iiSftfv 


o 


-V^fc"--' 


a 


"Wi : - 


CD 


"; v - 



en |Sj< 

X 

no 



"Mi 



m 

en 



> 
cn 



>" 

CO 

a 

z 

cn 

a 



M 

:''■'■ 

■ ■ sv 

'■■>:■■'■ 



i 






■; 



••■•'-'';' 




INDIAN WARS. 181 

invariably the case among the North American Indians, performed all the work of gather- 
ing these eomestibles and of preparing them likewise. The men were not in any de- 
gree an exception to the general rule of laziness and worthlessness. Their only active 
days were when in pursuit of game or their enemies. Wars among these Indians 
were of frequent occurrence, but were hardly ever long or bloody. The easus 
belli was usually lovely woman. Wicked sorceries inflicted by one people on another 
were also causes of Avar. If one tribe obstructed a salmon stream so as to prevent their 
neighbors above from obtaining a supply of food the act often provoked war. No scalps 
were taken, but the dead foeman was decapitated — a fate meted out to all male pris- 
oners, while the women and children were spared to be the property of the conquerors. 

Their bows Avere usually about three feet long, made of yeAv or some other tough. 
A\'ood ; the back was an inch and a half in Avidth and was covered with the sineAvs of 
the deer. The arroAvs were about two feet long, and occasionally thirty inches. They 
were made of reeds, were feathered and had a tip of obsidian, glass or iron. They 
often made their arrows in two sections, the front one containing the tip being short 
and fastened by a socket so contrived as to leave the tip in a wounded animal, while 
the longer and more valuable feathered section dropped upon the ground and could 
be found in the fleeing animal's trail. Poisoned arroAvs seem to haA^e been in use, es- 
pecially among the Modocs, who used the venom of the rattlesnake for the purpose. 
They macerated the reptile's head in a deer's liver which, putrefying, absorbed the 
poison and assumed the virulent character itself. Arrows dipped therein were regarded 
as capable of producing death. There is no record of these poisoned arrows having 
been used with fatal effect on a white man, but there is no good reason to suppose that 
in the absence of remedies a AA T ound of this sort would be otherwise than fatal. 

The Indian Avomen ingeniously plaited grass, tide or fine Avillow roots into bas- 
kets, mats, etc. The baskets constructed for cooking purposes would retain water and 
Avere even used as kettles for boiling that fluid. Stones, heated very hot, were thrown 
into the A-essel, Avhereby heat was communicated to the water. Canoes Avere made from 
the trunk of a tree, hollowed out and shaped by means of fire. Pine, fir and Cot- 
tonwood Avere the species used, and the completed A-essel was blunt at each end, and 
those made by the Rogue RiA*er Indians Avere flat-bottomed. The tree ha\ T ing been 
felled by burning off, or being found as a windfall, was burned off to the required 
length and holloAved out by the same agency. Pitch was spread on the portion to be 
burned away, and a piece of fresh bark served to prevent the flames from spreading 
too far. These canoes were propelled by means of paddles. Such constructions of 
course lacked the requisite lightness and grace of the birch-bark canoes of the far- 
eastern Indians, nor could they equal them in speed or handiness. 

Canoes, women, Aveapons of war and the chase, and the skins of animals formed 
the most valued property of these saA'ages, and were articles of trade. Wealth was 
estimated in strings of shell money like the wampum of eastern aborigines, but this 
money was here known as alli-as-chich or ali-qua-chick. This circulating medium was 
a small white shell, hollow^ and valued at from five to twenty dollars. Hence the 
monetary standard of these savages was variable like that of more civilized nations, 
but was probably a source of less confusion and speculation. White deer skins and 
the scalps of red-headed Avood peckers seem to have been articles of great estimation, 



182 INDIAN WARS. 

possessing fictitious values depending upon the dictates of fashion. These articles 
were the insignia of wealth and were sought after by the Indians as seal-skin gar- 
ments and diamonds are affected by the higher classes of white society. " Wives, also, 
as they had to be purchased, were a sign of wealth, and the owner of many was thereby 
distinguished above his fellows." To be a chief among the Klamaths or Rogue Rivers 
pre-supposed the possession of wealth. Power was not hereditary, and the chief who 
became too old to govern was summarily deposed. La-lake, the peaceable old chief 
of the former tribe, was compelled in his later years to give place to a younger man. 
Each village had a head man who might be styled chief, who held his power in some 
way subordinate to the main tribal chiefs, but whose actions in most ways were not 
regulated by the head chief. A new settlement being formed a chief was elected who 
held his power until deposed by his subjects or until death removed him. Frequently 
from a multiplicity of candidates for the chiefship two were chosen, who together ad- 
ministered the affairs of the tribe, the divided authority appearing to have been con- 
sistent with peace and friendliness. One of the two was usually styled peace chief, tho 
other Avar chief. A well-known example of this is seen in Sam and Joe, brothers, and 
respectively war chief and peace chief of the Rogue Rivers. However, it does not 
appear that the duties of the two were in any case divided, or that the occurrence of 
war necessitated the intermission of the peace chief's authority. As the case of the 
two chiefs mentioned, Joe, probably a more skillful warrior, assumed the conduct of 
warfare in 1853, and possibly in 1851, though the latter fact is not fully ascertained. 

The Indians of Southern Oregon and Northern California were a filthy race, 
viewed from a Caucasian standpoint, but probably did not surpass other aborigines in 
that respect. Their habits of life were such as to render them subject to parasites of 
all sorts, so much so that an Indian deprived of the presence of pediculus would be an 
anomaly. " The Rogue Rivers bathed daily ; yet they brought out with them the 
dirt which encased their bodies when they went in. . Their heavy, long and thickly 
matted hair afforded refuge for vermin which their art could not remove. To destroy 
in some measure this plague they were in the babit of burning their houses occasion- 
ally and rebuilding with fresh materials." 

TheUmpqua region and the coast between the Siuslaw and Coos bay were inhab- 
ited by the Umpquas and minor related tribes. These possessed many tribal divisions 
of which the names have mostly perished. Ultimately they belonged to the extensive 
family called by Bancroft the Chinooks, a division of the Columbians so-called. An- 
ciently the Umpquas were a tribe of importance and strength, though individually far 
inferior to the Klamath family. This is true in regard to physique and mental quali- 
ties. In stature the men rarely exceeded five and a half feet nor the women five 
feet. Both sexes were heavily and loosely built, and were much deformed by their 
squatting position, and had every appearance of degeneration. Their faces were 
broad and round, their nostrils large, the mouth wide and thick-lipped, teeth irregular, 
countenance void of expression and vivacity, yet often regular. 

As to clothing, the Umpquas were not in any way peculiar. The men wore no 
covering in fair or warm weather, but in severe seasons adopted a garment made of the 
skins of animals. Females wore a skirt of cedar fibres fastened around the waist and 



INDIAN WARS. 183 

hanging to the knees. In cold weather they wrapped a robe of sea-otter or other 
skins about the body. 

Fish formed a staple article of diet with the Umpquas, salmon and salmon trout 
being the principal varieties, which were, and still are, abundant in the Umpqua river 
and its tributaries during certain seasons. The fish, being caught in some approved 
Indian fashion, was roasted before fires. Being cut into convenient sized portions, it 
was impaled on a pointed stick, first being stuck through with splinters to prevent it 
from falling to pieces. Thus broiled the fresh salmon or trout formed a very welcome 
and toothsome addition to their limited cuisine. 

In times before the coming of the whites the Rogue Rivers and Shastas had fre- 
quent wars with the Umpquas, but finally, through mutual interest, effected a coalition. 
From this time the power of the latter tribe began to wane. In the decade ending in 
1850, the Klickitats, a powerful and restless tribe from beyond the Columbia, entered 
the Umpqua valley, having conquered all the Indians whom they met in the Willam- 
ette valley, and subjected the Umpquas also to defeat. They occupied a portion of the 
latter's country and became the dominant tribe northward of the Rogue river valley. 
The Klickitats were equally renowned in trade and war, and their services were in re- 
quest by the whites at various times when other tribes were to be fought. In 1851 
sixty Klickitat warriors, well mounted and armed, offered themselves to assist in the 
war against the Rogue Rivers, but their presence was not desired. Similar to these 
were the Des Chutes, a small but active tribe, who, under their chief, Sem-tes-tis, made 
expeditions for purposes of war or barter from their homes east of the Cascades as far 
as Yreka, where, in 1854, they assisted the whites against the Shastas. In some of 
their characteristics the Klickitats irresistibly bring to mind the early Jews, whose mi- 
grations, success in war and love of barter form strong points of resemblance to this 
Indian tribe's peculiarities. Some few of the Klickitats yet remain in the eastern part 
of Douglas county, where they own and till farms, and are useful members of that 
community. 

As regards the origin of these tribes, only conjecture is at hand. Not enough is 
known on that topic to serve for the foundation of a respectable hypothesis, although 
the common origin of all North American tribes has been taken for granted. From facts 
which have come under his notice, Judge Rosborough, formerly Indian agent in 
Northern California, is of the opinion that there have been three lines of aboriginal 
migration southward through Southern Oregon and Northern California, namely : 
one by the coast, dispersing toward the interior; secondly, that along the Willamette 
valley, crossing the Calaj30oia mountains and the Umpqua and Rogue rivers, Shasta 
and Scott valleys ; the other wave coming up the Des Chutes river and peopling the 
vicinity of the lakes. As an evidence of the second movement it is known that all 
the tribes inhabiting the region referred to spoke the same language and confederated 
against their neighbors, particularly the Pit river Indians, who arrested their course 
in the south. The traditions of the Shastas show they had driven a tribe out of their 
habitation and occupied it themselves. 

The Klamaths have been known among themselves and surrounding tribes as 
Muck-a-lucks, Klamaths, Klamets, Luuami (their own name), and Tlamath. The 
Rogue Rivers, according to various authorities, called themselves Lo-to-ten, Tutatamy, 



184 INDIAN WARS. 

Totutime, Tootouni, Tootooton, Tutoten, Tototin, Tutotutna, and Too-toot-na; all of 
which may be regarded as the same word, uttered variously by individuals of different 
tribes, and reproduced in writing as variously. For the purposes of this history their 
ordinary designation, Rogue Rivers, will be adopted, inasmuch as they have attained a 
celebrity under that name, and as it in consequence conveys a readier meaning than 
either of the native words the use of which, in addition, carries a suspicion of pedantry. 
Tribal designations among the Indians, it is to be observed, were and are exceedingly 
indefinite and troublesome to the student. For example : tribes of restricted numbers 
frequently call themselves by the name of their head chief; and the tribal name is fre- 
quently used indifferently with that of the chief. The Klamaths, for a time called 
themselves, and were called by their white neighbors La-lakes. Their principal chief 
also bore that name, and by it was known to a large part of the State. The name, be- 
yond doubt, is la-lac — meaning, in French, the lake, and was applied by French or 
Canadian travelers or trappers, in allusion to the great Klamath lakes, upon whose 
shores these people dwelt. Adopted by the natives, this foreign word was applied to 
the tribe and to the great peace chief, who became in his day the most eminent of his 
race. The habit of loosely applying their designations has made the study of Indian 
traditions and history very difficult indeed, and is probably the most fruitful source of 
error which presents itself in the pursuit of aboriginal archaeology. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE EARLY EXPLORERS ATTACKED. 

Jedediah S. Smith's Journey Through Northern California and Southern Oregon — First Knowledge of the In- 
dians — Locality of Smith's Defeat— Turner — Gay — Ewing Young — Wilkes' Exploring Expedition — Fremont's 
Expedition Across the Plains — Attack by Modocs- -Travel Through Southern Oregon — Indian Outrages in 
1850 and 1851. 

It is pertinent to the subject to introduce here the account of Jedediah S. Smith's 
remarkable trip through Southern Oregon, from California to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany's settlements at Vancouver. It will thus be seen that the spirit of hostility 
against the whites was developed at the very moment of the latter 's first appearance in 
the country ; and we shall see that this spirit of hostility was kept alive until the In- 
dians' expulsion from the country, twenty-eight years after. [For full details of this 
affair see pages 118 to 122 of this volume.] 

The evidence shows that Smith followed the coast line in his first trip northward 
to Cape Arago, and doubtless he with his two companions continued along the coast as 
far as the Columbia, for the interior he could have known nothing of, since even the 
Hudson's Bay people had not made explorations in that direction. While every one 







Mrs. Gen Joseph Lane. 



INDIAN WARS. 185 



accords to Smith the distinction of having led the first white men into Southern Ore- 
gon, there is much left to conjecture in regard to numerous important details of his 
passage. The exact spot where his camp was destroyed by Indians is not known, nor 
its approximate situation. Certain manuscripts ascribe an island in [or near] the 
Umpqua as the place of the tragedy ; while others mention Cape Arago as the locality in 
question. The tact that an important tributary, of the Umpqua has been named Smith 
river does not settle the question, while from certain facts the presumption is in favor 
of Cape Arago. At any rate the Umpqua Indians (who are well known to have inhab- 
ited the vicinity of the mouth of that river) are characterized by an indisposition to 
acts of violence, while the natives of Coos bay, and more particularly of the Coquille 
country, achieved quite a reputation as murderers of stray parties of whites, as will 
appear in another part of this book. These considerations render it likely that Smith's 
party was attacked at some point further south than the generally accepted locality, 
though the question — an interesting one — deserves and should receive full investiga- 
tion. 

Under such circumstances Southern Oregon began to become known to the world, 
and for a long series of years remained unsettled by civilized men, the only objects of 
the few white persons who entered its bounds being the pursuit of fur-bearing animals 
or else urged through these dangerous solitudes by the exigencies of travel. The Hud- 
son's Bay Company's agents w r ere quick to take advantage of the information brought 
by Smith, and parties of hunters and trappers were sent forth to systematically explore 
and in some sense occupy the country. This occupation extended no farther than the 
construction of a permanent post at the junction of Elk creek and the Umpqua river, 
where Elkton is now situated. This post, called Fort Umpqua, served as the head- 
quarters of the company's employees throughout the section embracing the Umpqua, 
Rogue, Klamath and Upper Sacramento rivers. 

In June, 1836, as is credibly told, a party of whites, including George Gay, well 
known in Oregon's early history, Daniel Miller, Edward Barnes, Dr. Bailey, J. Turner, 

and his squaw, Sanders and Woodworth, and a man known as Irish Tom, 

were attacked near the mouth of Foot's creek (below Rock Point) on Rogue river, and 
Miller, Sanders, Barnes and Irish Tom were killed, while the others, badly wounded, 
made their escape. As narrated by J. W. Nesmith, in Transactions of Oregon Pio- 
neers, 1882, the circumstances were as follows : " The party was under the leadership 
of Turner and was on a trapping expedition. About the middle of June they were 
encamped at the Point of Rocks [Rock Point] on the south bank of Rogue river. 
Several hundred Indians dropped into camp, but Turner thinking there was no dan- 
ger took no precautions, and the natives most unexpectedly attacked the party with 
clubs, bows and knives. They got possession of three of the eight guns with which 
the whites were armed, and for a time the trappers fought them with fire-brands, 
clubbed guns and whatever came handy. Turner, a big Kentucky giant, seized a fir 
limb from the fire and fought lustily. He released Gay who was held down by the 
savages, and finally the assailants were driven from the camp. Dan Miller and another 
trapper were killed on the spot, while the six survivors were all more or less wounded. 
The latter took to the brush, and without horses and deprived of all the guns but two, 
traveled, fighting Indians by day and walking by night, making their way northward. 



_ 



186 INDIAN WARS. 

Dr. Bailey was wounded by a tomahawk blow which had cleft his shin. Sanders' 
wounds disabled him from traveling, and he was left on the South Umpqua, while 
" Big Tom " [Irish Tom] was left on the North Umpqua. The] Indians reported to 
Dr. McLaughlin, of the Hudson's Bay Company, that both men soon died of their 
wounds where they were left. Turner, Gay, Woodworth and Dr. Bailey ultimately 
reached the settlement on the Willamette. 

Two years later, or in 1837, a party of Oregonians proceeded to California to buy 
cattle to drive to the Willamette. They secured a drove, and returning passed through 
the Umpqua and Rogue river valleys. The party was composed in part of Ewing 
Young, the leader ; P. L. Edwards, who kept a diary of the trip ; Hawchurst, Car- 
michael, Bailey, Erequette, DesPau, B. Williams, Tibbetts, Gay, Wood, Camp, and 
about eight others, all frontiersmen of experience. While encamped at the Klamath, 
on the fourteenth of September, 1837, Gay and Bailey shot an Indian who had come 
peaceably into camp. This act was in revenge for the affair at Foot's creek, but that 
locality had not by any means been reached, and the Indians' crime of 1835 was re- 
venged on an individual who, perhaps, had not heard of the event. The act was deeply 
resented by the Indians throughout the whole section, and the party met with the 
greatest difficulty in continuing their course. On the seventeenth of the same month 
they encamped at Foot's creek, and on the next morning sustained a serious attack of 
the savages, narrated thus in the diary of Edwards : 

September 18. — Moved about sunrise. Indians were soon observed running along the moun- 
tain on our right. There could be no doubt but that they were intending to attack us at some 
difficult pass. Our braves occasionally fired on them when there was a mere possibility of doing 
any execution. About twelve o'clock, while we were in a stony and brushy pass between the river 
[Rogue river] on our right, and a mountain covered with wood on our left, firing and yelling in 
front announced an attack. Mr. Young, apprehensive of an attack at this pass, had gone in ad- 
vance to examine the brush and ravine, and returned without seeing Indians. In making further 
search he found them posted on each side of the road. After firing of four guns, the forward 
cattle having halted, and myself having arrived with the rear, I started forward, but orders met 
me from Mr. Young that no one should leave the cattle, he feeling able, with the two or three men 
already with him, to rout the Indians. In the struggle Gay was wounded in the back by an arrow. 
Two arrows were shot into the riding horse of Mr. Young, while he was snapping his gun at an 
Indian not more than ten yards off. To save his horse, he had dismounted and beat him on the 
head, but he refused to go off, and received two arrows, probably shot at his master. Having an- 
other brushy place to pass, four or five of us went in advance, but were not molested. Camped at 
the spot where Turner and party were attacked two years ago. Soon after the men on day guard 
said they had seen three Indians in a small grove about three hundred yards from camp. About 
half of the party went, surrounded the grove, some of them fired into it, others passed through it, 
but could find no Indians. At night all the horses nearly famished as they were tied up. Night 
set in dark, cloudy and threatening rain, so that the guard could herdly have seen an Indian ten 
paces off, until the moon rose, about ten o'clock. I was on watch the first half of the night. 

Here Mr. Edwards' diary breaks off, leaving untold much of interest to the gen- 
eral reader. As regards the skirmish at Foot's creek, just narrated, there is a doubt 
of it were it not succeeded by still more severe ones, inasmuch as the record of Wilkes' 
exploring expedition suggests further calamities to Young's company. Lieutenant 
Emmons, U. S. N., commanded a detachment of Wilkes' expedition, which left Van- 
couver for Yerba Buena, in September, 1841, J. D. Dana, the great scientist, being of 
the party, as well as Tibbetts, who was with the Young party. This man informed 



INDIAN WARS. 187 

las new associates that the Young expedition was defeated by the Indians who killed 
one white, and wounded two others who died when they reached the Umpqua. " He 
showed great anxiety to take his revenge on them, but no opportunity offered, for our 
party had no other difficulty than scrambling up steep paths and through thick 
shrubbery." 

In the work just referred to the natives about the Oregon-California line are 
spoken of as " bad Indians" — as if that were their common designation. Hence, we 
infer that they had, even at that date, acquired a sustained reputation for hostility to 
the whites. Such a name does not afford any clue to their real character, however, 
but only suggests a spirit of opposition to the whites with whom they came in contact. 
This opposition probably in most cases took the form of hostility. On other and more 
occasions it may not have exceeded that form of independence known to the early set- 
tlers as " insolence." This, be it remarked, was a favorite word with certain whites 
and infinitely recurs in the accounts of the early contests. It is only by the context 
that one can judge what the expression really signifies. To characterize an Indian as 
insolent, in certain cases meant that he was on the point of murder , at others that 
he had refused to allow white men to outrage his family. Such expression of inde- 
pendence or freedom or even of self-defense were all included in the then comprehen- 
sive term, insolence. Concerning the years preceding 1850 there is a dearth of 
information, whence not only are we unable to array many facts, but the power ol 
drawing inferences pertaining to what is known is lost, whereby a discussion of the 
aboriginal character in the light of the earlier events is impossible. 

In May, 1845, J. C. Fremont, with his exploring expedition, arrived in South- 
ern Oregon, having come up the Sacramento and Pit river valleys, and traveled 
by way of Goose, Clear, and Tule lakes to the west shore of Klamath lake, where he 
camped for a few days. His force consisted of about fifty men. On the ninth of May, 
Samuel Neal and M. Sighler rode into camp with the information that a United States 
officer was on their trail with dispatches, and would fall a victim to savages if not res- 
cued, the two messengers having escaped only by the fleetness of their horses. Taking- 
five trappers, four friendly Indians and the two messengers, Fremont hastened to the 
rescue, and at sun-down met Lieutenant Gillespie, guided by Peter Lassen and bearing 
dispatches from the United States government to Fremont. The place of meeting was 
sixty miles from Fremont's camp on the lake, which they had left in the morning. 
They camped that night in the Modoc country, near Klamath lake, and then it was 
that the savage Modocs committed the first of the long series of hostile acts which have 
marked their dealings with the whites. Exhausted as they were, the men lay down to 
sleep Avithout setting a guard. The Modocs were not slow to take advantage of the 
0]3portunity. Late in the night, the watchful Kit Carson heard a dull, heavy thud as 
of a falling blow, and called to Basil La Jeunesse, who was sleeping on the other side 
of the camp-fire, to know what was the matter. Getting no answer, and seeing moving 
figures he cried, "Indians, Indians!" and seized his rifle. Quickly, the trappers, Lucian 
Maxwell, Richard Owens, Alex. Godey and Steppenfelt, with Carson rushed to the aid 
of the man attacked. The Indian chief was killed and his followers fled, but La Jeunesse, 
Denne, an Iroquois and Crain, a Delaware, were dead. This camp was on Hot creek, 
in Siskiyou county, California. 



188 INDIAN WARS. 

Ail examination of the trail in the morning showed that the attacking party num- 
bered about twenty, and Lieutenant Gillespie recognized the dead chief as an Indian 
who had on the preceding morning given him a fine fish, the first food he had tasted 
for forty hours. On the eleventh of May Fremont left his main camp and started for 
California, to begin the war of independence which resulted in its conquest by the 
United States. A detachment of about fifteen men was left at the scene of the mid- 
night attack to punish the j>erpetrators should they return to it, Two Modocs were 
killed and scalped there, and the men rejoined the main party. Ten men of the 
advance guard, under Kit Carson, came suddenly upon an Indian village on the east 
bank of Klamath lake, and charged into it at once, killing many braves and burning 
the rancheria, but sparing the women and children. Years afterward a Modoc chief 
related these occurrences to Lindsay Applegate, and in response to questions, said the 
Indians made the attack on Fremont because these were the first white men who came 
into the country, and they wanted to kill them to deter others from coming. 

Even ju'ior to the Fremont explorations considerable migration to and from Cali- 
fornia began to take place through Southern Oregon. As yet there were few people 
settled south of the Willamette valley, whence came the greater number of the trav- 
elers, and the route was a very dangerous and difficult one. Time and distance had 
even magnified the sufficiently dangerous character of the Indians, and it required a 
considerable degree of daring to venture upon the journey. However, no dangers 
could have daunted such travelers as in 1848-9-50 set out for California, intent upon 
mining, although their passage through this region was usually attended with fighting 
and many times with loss of life. Tradition relates the murders of several men near 
Foot's creek and the robbery of their camp wherein was gold to the value of many 
thousand dollars ; but the time, place and names are inextricably confused. Of course 
all travelers went heavily armed, and as far as jiossible in strong numbers. J. W. 
Nesmith in a letter to the compiler of this account, says : " I first saw Southern 
Oregon in 1848, when, with thirty-two companions, I set out from Polk county to go 
through to California. The Indians were all hostile from the Umpqua mountains to 
the valley of the Sacramento, and there was not a day during our march between 
these two points that we did not exchange shots with them, though we had no engage- 
ment with them that could be called a battle." 

In August, 1850, two packers, Cushing and Prink, were killed on the banks of 
the Klamath river near where the ferry was afterwards established. Their train was 
taken and their cargo destroyed by Shasta Indians. 

In January, 1851, a conflict occurred at Blackburn's ferry on the Klamath, in 
which James Sloan, Jenalshan and Bender were killed by savages presumably Klam- 
aths. Blackburn and his wife defended their house until help arrived and the Indians 
fled. On examining the neighborhood of the ferry, the body of Blackburn's father 
was most unexpectedly found, he having come in the evening to visit his son whom he 
had not seen for years, and met his death almost at the threshold, at the hands of the 
besiegers. Some two weeks later a party of white men from the ferry went in pursuit 
of the hostiles and shot two Indians, one, a squaAV, being killed by mistake while in a 
canoe. The same party, being in the vicinity of Happy Camp, attacked a rancheria of 
Eurocs (down-river Klamaths) and killed every male inhabitant and two females. One 




.--■ ( ■ -, 




^mt*~ 



W-: 



»*Hg - ' 



INDIAN WARS. 189 

of the attacking party was killed. This action is called the Lowden's ferry fight. 
During the following May, four miners were killed on Grave creek and Rogue river, 
whose names are unknown. Mosin and McKee (otherwise called Reaves) were at 
about the same date killed on the Klamath. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

EFFECT OF WHITE IMMIGRATION. 

Coming- of the Whites— General Wane and the Shastas— Divisions of the Shastas— Their Chiefs Rogue River 
Indians -Applegate John— Limpy, George and their Bands— Table Rock Band—Sam and Joe — Census of 
Indians— Diminution of the Indians — Reflection on their Condition— Sentiment of the Whites— Discussion on 
the Causes of the Wars. 

The events narrated in the last chapter mainly occurred prior to the settlement of 
Southern Oregon, which we may conveniently date from the spring of 1851. We now 
come to consider occurrences which took place during the following years, wlien the 
country was being rapidly peopled, in consequence partly of the discovery of gold 
placers in the Rogue river country, and where a state of feverish excitement existed, 
consequent upon the rapid growth of population and other serious causes. It was in 
the spring of 1851 that these gold discoveries took place whose repeated occurrence 
attracted thousands to these valleys. The news of the first " find " drew other pros- 
pectors who, advancing into the previously untrodden wilds, speedily found other rich 
deposits, and so within a few short months it was learned that the precious metal 
existed on the banks of innumerable streams draining extensive regions. At the same 
time numerous discoveries were being made in Northern California, and a constant 
succession of travelers passed north and south on the way to the Sacramento and 
Shasta valleys, or homeward to the Willamette with a filled purse, or j^erhaps with 
defeated hopes and an empty j)ocket. The mines about Yreka were being Avorked, 
and a busy swarm of men, estimated by some at above 2,000, were digging for gold. 
Adventurous prospectors had spread themselves over a vast region, and toward everv 
point of the compass. All the affluents of the Sacramento, Shasta, Trinity, Scott, 
Pit, Rogue and Umpqua were infested by busy men with pick and pan, and the aurif- 
erous wealth of the country speedily became known. In June of 1850, Dollarhide 
and party discovered the Scott river placers, but abandoned them from fear of the In- 
dians and from other causes. Soon after came Scott and party who made additional 
discoveries, the news of which was speedily circulated, bringing many miners to the 
spot. General Joseph Lane arrived on the headwaters of the river in February, 1851, 
and set about gold digging in company with his own party of Oregonians. By the 
tacit consent of whites and natives alike (but as some have said by the intercession of 



190 INDIAN WARS. 

Chief Tolo) the general became a sort of mediator in their differences ; and kept both 
parties in harmony throughout his stay on the river. The Indians of that vicinity, 
belonging to the Shasta tribe, were very numerous, but were divided into several bands. 
They occupied Shasta and Scott valleys, and the banks of the Klamath river adjacent. 
They had been separated from the Rogue Rivers only recently, owing to the death 01 
their principal chief. There is no doubt that these two tribes were one and undivided 
previously, but now they were broken up and formed several communities, each with 
its own chief. At Yreka old Tolo was chief, an always firm friend and ally of the 
whites ; in Scott valley Tyee John, a son of the deceased head chief, was supreme ; 
in Shasta valley, Tyee Jim ; on the Klamath, Tyee Bill ; on the Siskiyou mountains 
and about the head of the Applegate, Tipsu (commonly called Tipsie) Tyee (bearded 
or hairy chief). On Rogue river were gathered the Indians who bore that name, num- 
bering, according to the best evidence, about 600 souls. They were broken up into 
tribal communities of greater or less importance, and, as before remarked, all owed a 
quasi allegiance to Joe and Sam, chiefs of the Table Rock band, the main division 01 
the tribe. On Applegate creek dwelt Chief John, a redoubtable warrior who properly 
fills more space in history than any other Oregon Indian, excepting, perhaps, 
Kam-a-i-a-kun, the celebrated warrior of the Yakimas, and Peo-peo-mux-mux, the 
great chief of the Walla Wallas. John's clan, the Ech-ka-taw-a, was numerically 
small ; not more than fifty braves followed him to war, but these, under such a 
leader, more than made up for lack of numbers, by courage, strategy, and indomitable 
perseverance. We shall have much to say of this wily and sagacious chief, when treat- 
ing of the events of the war of 1855-56. Another prominent Indian was Limpy, 
— so called by the whites — who was of the Haw-quo-e-hav-took, a rather more numer- 
ous band, dwelling in the region drained by the Illinois river. His character was well 
known to the whites, by reason of his taking part in hostilities against them on all 
possible occasions. The acts of Limpy and John have become in a great measure con- 
founded in most people's recollections, and to the Illinois Indians are attributed many 
acts and exploits of which the blame or credit should be given to the Applegate band. 
George, another and less prominent sub-chief, dwelt upon the Rogue river below Van- 
noy's ferry. His people united on occasion with those of Limpy, and together made 
up an active and dangerous force. 

In the vicinity of Table Rock dwelt the sub-tribe of Indians previously alluded 
to as the band of Sam and Joe, which will be further referred to under the name ot 
the Table Rock band. Their home was upon the banks of the Rogue river, and in 
the midst of a pleasant country, fruitful in game, roots, seeds and acorns, while in the 
river, at the proper season, salmon swarmed by the thousand. They derived an easy 
and abundant living from the advantageous surroundings and were the dominant band 
of the tribe. Their number probably reached at one time 500 souls ; but in addition 
quite a number of Indians of other tribes were settled within the valley and through 
some consideration of Indian polity, gave their adhesion to the Table Rock chiefs and 
were in effect a part of their people. This band was ever regarded with jealousy by 
the whites until their removal to a distant reservation in 1856 ; but with little cause, 
as will be shown in the following pages. We shall have occasion to set forth the com- 
parative superiority of this particular band and of their chiefs in matters of civility, 



INDIAN WARS. l f Jl 

good faith, and regard for their engagements. The people of Jackson county still 
have lively memories of many of these Indians, particularly of the two chiefs. They 
tell that the twain were tall and stately men, Sam somewhat portly, the other of a more 
slender build, but alike in having massive heads and relatively intellectual foreheads. 
In the late years of their stay at Table Rock they dressed in " Boston " style, wearing 
tall hats, etc. Their manners were said not to be inferior to those of the ordinary 
miner or farmer. These comparatively intelligent and teachable Indians wielded a 
great influence among the surrounding tribes at a time when the utmost revengeful 
feelings had been excited against the whites. The Indian name of Joe was Aps-er- 
ka-ha, as is discovered on perusing the text of the Table Rock treaty of 1853, and 
from the same source we learn that Sam's name was To-gun-he-a ; and a less impor- 
tant chief named by the whites Jim, was in Too-too-tenni (the Rogue River language) 
called Ana-cha-ara. As the before-mentioned chiefs were the most prominent actors 
on the part of the Indians in the ensuing wars, further mention of them is deferred to 
its appropriate place. 

In 1854 a census was taken of the entire inhabitants of the upper portion of 
Rogue river valley, from which the following figures are extracted. The Indians were 
in this enumeration divided into two classes — those who accepted the provisions of the 
Lane treaty of 1853, and the outside or non-reservation Indians. Of the former the 
Table Rock band numbered seventy-six persons ; John's band, fifty-three ; the com- 
bined people of George and Limpy, eighty-one ; making a total of 307 Indians of 
both sexes and all ages, gathered upon the reservation at Table Rock. Of these, 108 
were men. The non-treaty Indians comprised Elijah's band of ninety-four ; the "Old 
Applegates" (probably Tepsu Tyee's people) , numbering thirty-nine ; Taylor's band 
and the Indians of Jump-off- Joe creek, sixty strong ; and forty -seven remaining on 
the Illinois river; total, 240; of whom seventy-two were men. Thus the total In- 
dian population of the upper portion of the Rogue river country was 547 — a number 
that will seem disproportionately small to those who are in any degree familiar with 
the history of their actions. To this estimate Agent Culver added twenty-five per 
cent., as representing the number of alien or foreign Indians who might be found at 
any time with or near the bands named. There is reason to believe that the stranger 
Indians at times exceeded this large estimate, especially in time of hostilities. 

The best evidence exists to show that the Indian population of the valley suf- 
fered very serious diminution between the years 1854 and 1855. What the extent of 
this decrease was, or how long its causes had been in operation is not ascertainable. It 
is a very common expression with the earlier white settlers that the Indians were much 
more numerous at first. Agent Culver remarked that the loss to the " treaty Indians' r 
collected at Table Rock reservation, amounted during the first twelve months to not 
less than one-fourth of their whole number. Among the several strong bands of 
Indians resident in the Grave creek, Wolf creek and Jump-off-Joe region, the mor- 
tality was still greater ; and those intractable bands, dangerous enemies of the whites 
(they spoke the Umpqua language but were not of that blood), were nearly blotted 
out of existence. 

This theory of the diminution of the Indians will help to explain the apparently 
monstrous exaggerations of those who first battled with the Rogue Rivers — an exag- 



192 INDIAN WARS. 

geration inexplicable on any other hypothesis. Tims, Major Kearney, writing to his 
superior officers concerning an engagement, professes to have been opposed by from 
300 to 500 Indians. Many such statements might be adduced, which with the above 
theory are mutually supporting, though they do not rest on the same class of evidence 
by any means. 

The position in which these Indians found themselves at the era of the rapid 
influx of white men was anomalous. They were suddenly surrounded by a white 
population largely exceeding their own numbers, engaged in the pursuit of gold. Nor 
was this white population of a character to enable the Indians to remain in quiet. 
Ordinary observation speaks loudly to the contrary. Says J. Ross Browne, "The earliest 
comers were a wild, reckless and daring race of men, trappers and hunters, whose 
intercourse with the Indians was not calculated to afford them a high opinion of Ameri- 
cans as a people." These remarks were intended to apply to the travelers who came 
prior to the discovery of gold. With a slight modification they will apply perfectly to 
a very large number of subsequent arrivals. Concerning the character of the general 
white population in 1851-6, nothing need be said. Men of all ranks in life and of all 
conceivable characters were there. There is no occasion to go into raptures over the 
generosity, magnanimity and bravery of the better sort, nor to enter upon a long 
description of the vices of the worse. Good men were there and bad. The same 
vicious qualities which characterized the ruffian in more settled communities marked 
his career in this, except that circumstances may have given him a better chance here 
to display himself. "A majority of white persons came to the country with kind feel- 
ings for the Indians and not wishing to injure them; but there also came many having 
opposite sentiments." This sentence sets forth the condition of affairs as forcibly as ix 
it were expanded into a volume. A portion were ready to do the Indian harm, and 
circumstances never could have been more favorable to their malice. Law and justice 
were not; and whenever and wherever a white man's lust or love of violence led him 
then and there an outrage was perpetrated. Public sentiment to-day admits the truth 
of the strongest general charges of this nature; and the venerable rjioneer tottering per- 
haps on the edge of the grave says sadly — " The Indians suffered many a grievous 
wrong at our hands ; unmentionable wrongs, they were, of which no man shall ever 
bear more." Because these Indians were poor, because they were ignorant, and because 
they were aliens, society frowned on them, justice ignored them, the United States gov- 
ernment neglected to protect them and they were left a prey to the worst passions of 
the worst of men. To again quote, "Miscreants, regardless of sex or age, slaughter 
poor, weak, defenceless Indians with impunity. There are no means for agents to 
prevent it or punish it. There are many well-disposed persons, but they are silent 
through fear or some other cause," etc. These are the words of Joel Palmer, superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs for Oregon. In continuation of the subject, J. L. Parrish, 
Indian agent at Port Orford, said: "Many of the Indians have been killed merely on 
suspicion that they would rise and avenge their own wrongs, or for petty threats that 
have been made against lawless white men for debauching their women; and I believe 
in no single instance have the Indians been aggressors." The Oregon Statesman., of 
September 27, 1853, contained this language, which is all the more striking as being- 
published at a time when to utter a word in favor of the Indians was to court iinpojm- 




INDIAN WARS. 193 

larity: "Some of the whites are reckless and imprudent men, who expected passive 
submission from the natives under any treatment, while the latter have never had any 
correct idea of the policy of our government in relation to their race, and consequently 
regard all whites as lawless intruders endeavoring to despoil them." 

It is useless to multiply incidents and quotations with the single view of showing 
the immediate cause of the Indian wars. Those who wish to investigate more fully the 
subject of outrages by whites on Indians will do well to consult the various govern- 
mental reports of the superintendent of Indian affairs, and other like publications; but 
let it be taken for granted at once that the newspapers will afford no evidence of the 
kind sought. Nor should the evidence of the regular army or other government 
officers be accepted as conclusive. There is as much of prejudice and downright 
untruthfulness in certain official reports on the conduct of the Indian wars of Southern 
Oregon as could well be found in any newspaper. We behold, at the close of the final 
hostilities with the Indians (war of 1855-6), the inglorious spectacle of a renowned 
general engaged in a wordy and abusively personal contest with certain civilians, 
respecting the comparative merit of the regulars and the volunteers in bringing the 
war to a close. This unseemly quarrel between General Wool and the citizens of 
Oregon and Washington territories hinged upon the very least of all the results of 
those memorable months of fighting, yet these wordy hostilities continued throughout 
many years, and their echoes are hardly yet died away. To burden history with grave 
discussions of such matters is not at all the intention of the present writer; and those who 
would inform themselves upon the subject matter of the Wool-Curry -Stevens dispute, 
should seek it in the files of the newspapers of the date of 1856 and subsequently. 

To subserve some hidden political or pecuniary purpose, the legislature of Oregon 
once procured the publication of a list of persons murdered by Indians prior to 1858. 
That this list was inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable, did not affect the purpose 
of its publication. It probably assisted in carrying the measure .as intended, and thus 
far was of use. But that publication has done more to create unjust and erroneous 
impressions regarding the Indian wars than aught else. All the newspaper pathos 
concerning the blood of our slaughtered friends, all the speeches of demagogues trying 
to make political capital by playing upon men's vanity, never could have appealed to 
the feelings as does that simple list, containing, without circumstance, the names of 
perhaps 200 persons killed within the boundaries of Oregon. It is a pity that for 
purposes of comparison we have not a similar list giving the names of Indians who, 
have been murdered by white men. The total would be at least convincing. 

Returning to our subject of the immediate causes of the wars, we find ourselves 
under the necessity of quoting from the words of General Sam Houston : " The out- 
breaks of Indians are always preceded by greater outrages on the part of the whites." 
There w T as a very peculiar yet probably common class of outrages inflicted on the 
Indians that seem more particularly to illustrate the words of the venerable speaker. 
These outrages were upon women; and although we cannot suppose that the savage 
heart was capable of feeling all the severe emotions which under such circumstances 
would agitate the breast of a white man so wronged in the person of his wife, still there 
is no reason to doubt the gravity of such a matter to them. It may well be taken for 
granted that such outrages were of not uncommon occurrence. The debauchery of 



194 



INDIAN WARS. 



the Indian women was an accompanying circumstance, ana doubtless the two nearly 
identical facts had an important bearing on the relation of the races. 

The scheme upon which the writer will endeavor to arrange the evidence bearing 
on this topic divides such evidence into — first, that bearing upon the tone of public 
sentiment during the years of hostilities ; second, the remarkable change in public 
opinion during the subsequent years; third, the opinions of intelligent and reliable 
living actors in the wars ; fourth, contemporary evidence contained in newspapers, 
manuscripts, etc. ; fifth, the unjust terrorism of opponents of the war. The ordinary, 
or what may be termed the patriotic, view of the cause, remote and immediate, of the 
war, rests upon opinion only, and presents no stronger grounds than — first, the public 
consension of opinion of the Indian character ; second, traditions concerning the facts 
of the war ; and third, one-sided newspaper reports. 

Having suggested the most important immediate causes of the war, let us imagine 
that these causes have produced their inevitable effects, and that open hostilities exist. 
In such a case it is manifest that the ignoble causes would sink from sight, while pub- 
lic attention would become engrossed by the more important actual condition of affairs; 
and practical measures rather than theoretical speculation would be the order of the 
day. The varying feelings of all white inhabitants would become merged in a desire 
to speedily conquer, and possibly to exterminate their enemies. These would be the 
inevitable results, and we might expect those who previously had been the most con- 
servative and sympathetic to manifest the greatest vigor and enthusiasm on attacking 
the savages. The population then, we have abundant reason for saying, would become 
unanimous upon the breaking out of an Indian war. There would have existed a 
constant though indefinite dread of Indian retaliation among nearly all classes, and 
this feeling would have assumed a more serious import to men of family and to those 
who inhabited exposed places. By degrees this wearing annoyance would have become 
intensified, and the habit of expecting evil would have become, in the less steadfast 
minds, actually insupportable. The feeling then, we are assured, would have merged 
into one of deadly hostility towards Indians in general. It is difficult for us, in the 
calmness of every-day life, to conceive the feverish intensity of excitement to which 
man may be wrought, when the animal energies of his nature converge to a point, and 
the buoyancy of strength and courage reciprocates the influences of anxiety and solic- 
itude. We shall see the bearing of these remarks in treating of the beginning of the 
war of 1855-6, where they apply with distinguished force to the noted Lupton case. 
Thus we may believe it was less the actual Indian outrages that inspired the whites to 
violence than the soul-harrowing expectation of them. In corroboration of these views 
we find S. H. Culver, Indian agent at Table Rock, expressing himself as follows : 
" The feeling of hostility displayed by both parties would be almost impossible to 
realize except by personal observation. Worthy men of standing entertained senti- 
ments of bitter hostility entirely at variance with their general disposition." 

The consideration of the causes of an Indian war divides itself naturally, as has 
been inferred, into two parts, namely: The immediate cause or causes, and the remote 
cause. Of the two, the latter is, from its generality, incomparably the more interesting 
and important, but its discussion leads ultimately to a train of philosophical specula- 
tions not in consonance with ordinary conceptions of history, and of interest to a very 



INDIAN WARS. 195 

slight proportion of readers. The student of American history, casting his eyes upon 
the records of the settlement of this land, observes the multifarious accounts of Indian 
wars, and remarking their similarity in cause and effect, instinctively assigns them to a 
single primary cause, sufficiently comprehensive and effective to have produced them. It 
would be unphilosophical to ascribe the cause of these innumerable yet similar wars to 
the isolated acts of individuals, although we may credit the latter with their immediate 
production. The primary cause, says one, is the progress of civilization, to which the 
Indians are normally opposed. As otherwise stated, the cause is the result of immi- 
gration and settlement, which are also in opposition to the wish of the Indians. Another 
authority states it thus: "The encroachments of a suj)erior upon an inferior race." 
These three |)ropositions appear to set forth three different consequences of a universal 
truth, but by no means the primary truth itself. Probably the fundamental reason 
could be found in race differences, or still more likely in some psychological principle 
akin to that by which men are led to inflict death by jxreference upon the wilder animals, 
manifesting less hostility as species prove more tameable. Races are antagonized 
though mere facial differences ; and probably the principle, however it should be stated, 
enters into the actions and prejudices of even the most civilized and tolerant nations to 
an unsuspected extent. 

Finally, if we sum up the opinions brought out by close study of all the phases of 
the question as to the origin of the war, it seems an unavoidable result of the analogy 
of the various Indian wars, that hostilities in Southern Oregon were unavoidable under 
any circumstances attainable at the time, inasmuch as there existed no Quaker colony 
headed by a William Penn, to peacefully and wisely uphold law and order. Second, 
the immediate causes of the wars were due to the bad conduct of both parties, but were 
chiefly caused by the injudicious and unjust acts of reckless or lawless and treacherous 
white men. After a careful examination of the following pages, the unprejudiced 
reader will probably acknowledge that these conclusions are stated in singularly 
moderate and dispassionate language. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



FIRST CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE INDIANS. 

Murder of Dilley— Other attacks — Arrival of Government Troops — Battle with the Indians — Death of Captain 
Stewart — His Character — General Lane Arrives — Further Operations — The Indians Chastised — Governor 
Gaines Makes a Treaty with the Indians — Official Acts — Agent Skinner — More Complaints Against the In- 
dians — Affairs on the Coquille. 

About May 15, 1851, a party of three white packers and two supposed friendly 
Indians camped about thirty miles south of the Rogue river crossing, probably near 
the site of Phoenix. During the night the two savages arose, and taking the only gun 
owned by the party shot and killed one Dilley, and then lied, carrying away the mules 
and packs. The other two whites escaped, and spread the news of the murder. Cap- 
tain Long, of Portland, then mining near Shasta Butte City (Yreka), raised a com- 
pany of thirty men to correct the savages, and proceeding north, encountered at some 
undesignated place a party of them. These they attacked, killing two and capturing 
four, of whom two were the daughters of the chief. The latter were held as hostages. 

Probably in nearly the same locality, and certainly within the Rogue river valley, 
several other hostile occurrences took place, which are casually mentioned in the public 
prints of that time. On the first of June, 1851, a band of Indians had attacked 
twenty-six prospectors, but withdrew, doing no damage. On June second four men 
were attacked and robbed of their mules and packs while on the way to the mines. 
On the same day and near by, Nichols' pack-train was robbed of several animals and 
packs, and one man was hit in the heel by a bullet. Other travelers were beset at 
about the same time and place, one train losing, it was reported, four men. Says the 
Statesman: "The provisions stolen by these Indians were left untouched, because a 
Mr. Turner, of St. Louis, had killed several of them by allowing them to rob him of 
poisoned provisions (sixteen or seventeen years before)." On June third a party of 
thirty-two Oregonians under Dr. James McBride, and including also A. M. Richard- 
son, of San Jose, California ; James Barlow and Captain Turpin, of Clackamas county; 
Jesse Dodson and his son aged fourteen years ; Aaron Payne and Dillard Holm an, of 
Yamhill county ; and Jesse Runnels, Presley Lovelady, and Richard Sparks, of Polk 
county; had a severe fight with the Indians near " Green Willow Springs, about twenty 
miles the other side of Rogue river crossing." At daybreak they were attacked by a 
party of Rogue River Indians under chief Chucklehead, as he was called by some 
whites. The assailed party had seventeen guns, the assailants about as many, the most 
of the latter being armed with bows and arrows. After fighting four and a half hours 
the Indian leader was killed and the rest retreated. The chief was in .the act of aim- 
ing an arrow at James Barlow when Richardson shot him. Six or seven Indians were 
killed, but no hurt was done to the whites, excepting that Barlow was wounded in the 



®S:rS&f£*fes 




@£3 




CEN.elOSEPH LANES TOMB, 

Masonig Cemetery, Roseburs. 



mH.LW8.Ln*. fOKTlAHD.OH. 



INDIAN WAKS. 1 ( J7 

thigh by an arrow. The Indians drove off four saddle and pack animals, one carrying 
about fifteen hundred dollars in gold dust. 

These events, occurring in rapid sequence, deepened the before general impression 
of the hostile character of the Rogue Rivers and made it necessary that an armed 
force should be employed to pacificate the red men. Providentially, it happened at 
this juncture that Brevet Major P. Kearney, afterwards a celebrated general in the 
Union army, and killed at the battle of Chantilly, with a detachment of two com- 
panies of United States regulars, was on his way from the station at Vancouver to 
that of Benicia, California, guided by W. G. T'Vault. Approaching closely to the 
scene of hostilities he was invited to lend his aid in suppressing the savages. About 
the same time Governor Gaines, of Oregon, disquieted by the reports of Indian out- 
rages, set [out from the seat of government with the design of using his executive 
authority to form a treaty with the offenders ; and the task was made an easy one by 
the prompt and energetic action of Major Kearney and General Joseph Lane, who 
cleared a way for executive diplomacy, whereas, without their help his excellency 
would most certainly have failed of his laudable object and possibly have lost his scalp 
besides. 

The most intelligible accounts which can be gathered represent that Major Kearney 
found the main body of the Indians on the right bank of Rogue river, about ten miles- 
above Table Rock and nearly opposite the mouth of a small creek which enters the 
river from the east, and above Little Butte creek. The troops consisted of two com- 
panies ; one of dragoons, commanded by Captain Stewart, the other a rifle company,, 
under Captain Walker. The latter officer crossed the river, probably with the design 
of cutting off the savages' retreat, while Captain Stewart, dismounting his men, charged 
upon the Indians who were gathered at a rancheria. The conflict Avas very short, the 
Indians fleeing almost immediately. A wounded Indian lay upon the ground, and 
Captain Stewart approached, revolver in hand, to dispatch him ; but the savage, fixing- 
an arrow to his bow-string, discharged it at close range and pierced the captain's abdo- 
men, the point transfixing one of his kidneys. The fight and pursuit soon ended and 
the wounded man was taken to the camp of the detachment which spot was named, and 
subsequently for several years known as Camp Stewart, and is popularly supposed to 
be the spot where the battle occurred. Jesse Applegate is the authority for fixing the 
location as above stated. Accounts of the battle proceed to say that the wounded man 
was mortally injured, but remained sensible to the last. He lived a day, and, before 
dying said : " It is too bad to have fought through half the battles of the Mexican war to 
be killed here by an Indian." He was buried with military honors in a grave near 
the present village of Phoenix, nearly at the place where the ditch crosses the stage 
road, and where Mr. Culver's house now stands. In later years the remains were 
exhumed and taken to Washington to be re- interred near those of his mother. General 
Lane said of the deceased : " We have lost CajDtam Stewart, one of the bravest of the 
brave. A more gentlemanly man never lived; a more daring soldier never fell in 
battle." 

Captain Stewart's engagement is supposed to have taken place on June 26 or 27. 
It happened that at the same time Major Alvorcl, with Jesse Applegate as guide, was 
making an examination of the canyon or Cow creek mountain, between the Umpqua 



198 INDIAN WARS. 

and Rogue river regions, to determine a feasible route for a military road. The sur- 
veying party, which included several other well known early pioneers as well as a 
small military escort, was in the neighborhood of Cow creek. At the same time Gen- 
eral Lane, who was on his way south, had arrived in the canyon. Here he was met 
by men who informed him of the occurrences of the preceding days, that a severe fight 
had taken place, and that the Indians were gathering from every quarter; that they 
were ky-as solluks, (fighting mad), and that heavy fighting was anticipated. This was 
news enough to arouse the warlike spirit of the General, and without losing a moment 
by delay he and his little party pushed for the scene of hostilities, anxious to be the 
first to strike a blow in the cause of humanity. It was characteristic of the man to 
make all possible haste to the scene, and accordingly we find him on Rogue river in 
the shortest possible time, an enthusiastic volunteer, armed with no military or civil 
authority, but taking, as became the man and the time, a most active and important 
part in the events of the succeeding days. 

In his own words; "On Sunday night, while picketing our animals, an express 
rider came, who informed us that the Major [Kearney] had set out with his command 
that evening to make a forced march through the night and attack the enemy at day- 
break. Early Monday morning I set out with the hope of falling in with him or with 
the Indians retreating from him. We made a hard day's ride, but found no one. On 
Tuesday I proceeded to camp Stewart; but no tidings had been received from the 
Major. Late in the evening Captain Scott and T' Vault came in with a small party, 
for supplies and re-inforcements. They reported that the military had fought two 
skirmishes with the Indians, one early Monday morning, the other late in the afternoon, 
the Indians having, after wounding Stewart, posted themselves in a dense hummock 
where they defended themselves for four hours, escaping in the darkness. The Indians 
suffered severely, and several whites were injured. 

" By nine o'clock at night we were on our way, and at two o'clock the next morn- 
ing we were in the Major's camp. Here I had the jileasure of meeting my friends 
Applegate [Jesse], Freaner, and others. Early in the morning we set out [soldiers 
and civilians together], proceeding down the river, and on Thursday morning crossed 
about seven miles from the ferry. We soon found an Indian trail leading up a large 
creek, and in a short time overtook and charged upon a party of Indians, killing one. 
The rest made their escape in dense chaparral. We again pushed rapidly forward and 
late in the evening attacked another party of Indians, taking twelve women and chil- 
dren and wounding several males who escaped. Here we camped; and next day 
scoured the country to Rogue river, crossing it at Table mountain and reaching camp 
at dark. 

" The Indians have been completely whipped in every fight. Some fifty of them 
have been killed, many wounded, and thirty taken prisoners. Major Kearney has 
been in the saddle for more than ten days, scouring the country, and pouncing upon 
the Indians wherever they could be found. Never has an Indian country been invaded 
with better success nor at a better time. The establishing of a garrison in this district 
will be necessary for the preservation of peace. That done, and a good agent located 
here, we shall have no more trouble in this quarter. As for our prisoners, the Major 
was anxious to turn them over to the people of Oregon, to be delivered to the Superin- 



INDIAN WARS. 109 

tendent of Indian affairs ; but no citizens could be found who were willing to take 
charge of them. Consequently he determined to take them to San Francisco and send 
them from there to Oregon." 

A few days later when the troops and General Lane had reached the diggings 
near Yreka, the General himself, having determined to return to Oregon, took charge 
of the prisoners and delivered them to Governor Gaines, at the Kogue river crossing 
(near Yannoy's). The General closes his account by assigning due credit to different 
members of the expedition, as Major Kearney, Captain Walker, of the Eifles; Dr. Wil- 
liamson, Lieutenant Irvin, Messrs. Applegate, Scott, T' Vault, Armstrong, Blanchard 
and Boon, Col. Freaner and his volunteers, etc. Quite a number of miners assisted 
against the Indians, many having come from the newly discovered diggings on Jose- 
phine creek to take part. A great rush of men from Yreka and that vicinity had 
taken place just previous, and many of these, not finding sufficient inducements to 
remain, were on their way back to California, but stopped at Bear creek and lent their 
aid to suppress the Indians. 

The campaign of June ended by the departure of the regulars, who took up their 
line of march for California and will be heard of no more in our story. But before 
the effects of their operations in the Rogue river valley had died away, and while most 
of the men who inflicted such sudden punishment on the Indians were still near by,. 
Governor Gaines came to the Rogue river crossing and arranged a treaty of peace. 
The terms of this treaty mainly consist of a promise on the part of the Indians that 
they would be very good Indians indeed, and not kill or rob any more white men. 
They would stay on their own ground, which for official purposes was recognized as 
the north side of the river ; and they would cheerfully obey the commands of what- 
ever individual was sent among them as agent. To this treaty the signatures of eleven 
chiefs were appended, whose bands were bound thereby to obey its stipulations. But 
the most troublesome and desperate individuals of the native tribes refused to be thus 
bound ; and the strong joarties known as the Grave creek and Scisco mountain bands,, 
refused to meet the governor or have aught to do with the treaty. 

Something of an organization had been given to the department of Indian affairs 
of Oregon, by the creation of a superintendent thereof, who being the governor of the 
territory, held the former position ex officio. But the administration of this depart- 
ment not proving, for some reason, satisfactory to the authorities at Washington, the 
two offices were separated, and Doctor Anson Dart was appointed superintendent in 
1851, soon after the Rogue river treaty was formed. Judge A. A. Skinner, formerly 
on the territorial bench, was chosen agent for the Indians of the southern part of the 
territory, and set about his duties. The judge was a gentleman of the strictest honor 
and probity, but was singularly unsuccessful in his dealings with the Rogue river 
bands. Within a short time after his accession to office, the terms of the Gaines treaty 
being still recognized, a number of white immigrants took up donation claims on the 
north side of Rogue river, within the region informally set apart for the Indians. 
Judge Skinner expostulated ; but commands and appeals to the new-comers were alike 
unheeded ; the settlers remained and the Indians took umbrage at what they consid- 
ered a breach of faith on the part of the whites. It does not appear that the intrud- 
ing settlers in all cases maintained a permanent residence upon the land assigned to 



200 INDIAN WARS. 

the Indians, and this cause of complaint seems never to have assumed much magni- 
tude. However that may have been, Judge Skinner was much liked by his wards, 
and was lamented by them at his departure. He was ever ready to interpose his 
authority, limited though it was, between the whites and the Indians, and with ampler 
power might have served to obviate, for a time, the ills of the subsequent year, though 
not even the ablest of minds could have permanently settled the causes at issue, since - 
they were inevitably bound to terminate in war. 

As some |Dretended to have foreseen the Gaines treaty proved an unmitigated fail- 
ure. Hardly had the governor set his face toward the valley of the Willamette, 
than quarrels, misunderstanding, and serious difficulties broke out between the red and 
white occupants of Rogue river valley and neighboring localities. The one race speedily 
grew "insolent" and the other began, as usual, reprisals. There were not wanting 
unprincipled men of both races, whose delight was to stir up war and contention, and 
ruffianly bands of either color paraded the country and a condition of terrorism pre- 
vailed. Among the Indians, it was said, were several white men who had adopted 
Indian dress and manners, and these, if such existed, as there doubtless did, must have 
proved among the worst enemies of peace. Much complaint of the Indians began to be 
rife very soon after the treaty was signed; and the Cow Creek Indians, always a pugna- 
cious tribe, were charged with the commission of several outrages within two months 01 
that event. The whites mining at Big Bar and other places on the Rogue river, and 
industriously prospecting the numerous streams which flow into it, were in constant 
danger. Lieutenant Irvin, of the regular army, was kidnapped by two savages (Shastas 
probably) and a Frenchman, removed to the trackless woods, tied to a tree and sub- 
jected to many sorts of personal indignity. He escaped howeA^er, injured only in mind, 
but deeply convinced that the locality was too dangerous for a pleasant existence. This 
occurred in July. In consequence of this and other occurrences, General Hitchcock, 
commanding the Pacific Department, dispatched a force of twenty regular troops 
from Vancouver and Astoria to Port Orford, a newly located place on the coast of 
Curry county, thirty miles north of the mouth of Rogue river and then supposed 
to be accessible from the former seat of war near Table Rock. Subsequent explora- 
tions have dispelled this idea and proved that the military, so far as their effect 
upon the malcontents of the upper portion of Rogue river valley was concerned, 
might as well have been left at Vancouver. However, they were well situated to awe 
the hostiles who had broken out nearer the coast. Contemporaneously with the events 
above mentioned had occurred on the coast several incidents of the greatest celebrity. 
The accounts of two of these, the defense of Battle Rock, at Port Orford, and the mem- 
orable T' Vault- Williams exploring expedition, will be found in another part of this 
work, the space deemed suitable for their proper presentation being too extended for 
this article. The Indians of the Coquille river being thus found hostile, the detach- 
ment, somewhat re-inforced, proceeded under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Casey, to teach them a lesson. Dividing his small force into two bodies, the commander 
proceeded to the forks of the Coquille, and near the locality now called Myrtle Point, 
attacked a band of natives, who retreating from the one detachment fell in with and 
were beaten by the other. This took place in the autumn of 1851. 



iKH. I 






33 
rn 
en 



:■-.-' >-& 



■ I 

■■".vi^!->. ■ 

-#- 
.■:-iS"-'j 

era -;<& ; 
a» .'■$■■• 

5 .-y- 



C~3 

TJ 



GO 

r— 
m 
m 
a 
en 



m 

3D 



C3 

I— 
> 

en 

a 



f 



i -,$ 







CHAPTER XXIV. 



HOSTILITIES OCCURRING IN 1852. 

Events of the Year — Murder of Woodman — Pursuit of the Murderers — The Steele Expedition — Affairs at Big 
Bend— A Slaughter of Indians — A Peace Talk— Steele Returns to Yreka — Ben Wright — His Character — The 
McDarmit Expedition — Massacre at Bloody Point — Ben Wright Sets Out for Tule Lake — The Indians De- 
feated — Discovery of Murdered Immigrants — Scouting at Tule Lake — The Lost River Massacre — Three Ver- 
sions — Triumphal Return to Yreka — Concerning a Murder at Galice Creek or Vannoy's Ferry — Fort Jones 
Established. 

The main events of importance in 1852 included the murder of Calvin Wood- 
man, the massacre of Bloody Point, wherein thirty-six persons lost their lives ; and 
the killing of the seven miners on Rogue river, near the mouth of Galice creek. Of 
these events, only the last took place within the limits of Southern Oregon, but they 
are all of sufficiently connected interest to justify a narration herein. 

The date of Woodman's death is unsettled ; the author of the history of Siskiyou 
says it occurred in May, 1852 ; but certain official documents, particularly a report on 
the number and names of those whites killed by various Indian tribes in Southern 
Oregon and Xorthern California, mention it as occurring in June of that year. June 
second has been specifically mentioned ; but the exact date is immaterial. The man — 
a miner — was killed while riding along the banks of Indian creek, a tributary of Scott 
river. Two Indians did the bloody deed, and fled. Quickly the whites gathered at 
Johnson's ranch and fired upon whatever Indian they could find, and making the 
peaceful natives of Scott valley the principal victims. These Indians who had never 
broken out into hostilities, but had rather signalized themselves by moderation and an 
obliging disposition toward the whites, retaliated upon occasion and severely wounded 
S. G. Whipple, the deputy sheriff, but late captain in the regular army. Old Tolo, 
Tyee John of Scott valley, and Tyee Jim offered themselves as hostages to secure 
the whites against the Shastas, and accompanied Elijah Steele to Yreka, where the 
real culprits were supposed to have fled. All were convinced that the Shastas had 
nothing to do with the murder, and that it was most probably committed by Rogue 
River Indians, who, it was said, had been seen in the vicinity, and who had now gone 
north to join Tipsu Tyee, or the bands on the river near Table Rock. There was a 
great deal of excitement at Yreka concerning the matter, and the court of sessions 
authorized Steele to apprehend the suspected parties, it not being supposed that much 
time or travel would be necessary to enable him to comply. 

The undertaking, however, proved an arduous one ; and Steele and his eleven 
companions, who included John Galvin, Peter Snellback, James Bruce (afterwards 
major in the war of 1855-6) Frank Merritt, John McLeod, Dr. L. S. Thompson, James 
White, the two hostages, and a Klickitat Indian named Bill, rode to Rogue river in 

26 






202 INDIAN WARS. 

the search, taking two Indians caj)tive on the way. The first of these attempted to 
escape, but was shot by the Klickitat, who was detailed to pursue him. The dead man 
had been sent out, it was afterwards concluded, to persuade the Shastas to join Sam's 
band in a proposed war against the whites. The other prisoner was well mounted and 
armed, and proved to be a son of Tipsu Tyee, the enigmatical chief who dwelt in the 
Siskiyous. Him they took along and hearing that there was a prospect of finding their 
refugees at the general encampment of the Rogue Rivers, kept on to that stream. 
Farther along they met Judge A. A. Skinner, the Indian agent, and by him were 
requested to camp at Big Bend, where he had arranged for a conference of whites and 
Indians on the morrow. Certain grievances had arisen between the Indians and 
whites, which at this distant day cannot be fully made out. Chief among these griev- 
ances, it was said, was the desire of "Young Sam," son of Tyee Sam, the principal 
war chief, to possess the hand and heart of little Miss Ambrose, daughter of Dr. 
Ambrose, afterwards Indian agent, and who was living with his family on an agricul- 
tural claim adjoining T' Vault's at the Dardanelles. But this is doubtless a mistake, 
as the writer is informed that the young lady in question had not yet reached two years 
of age. The cause was a more trivial one, it is said, and concerned only a piece of 
beef. The settlers near by, alarmed for the safety of themselves and families, applied 
to the people of Jacksonville for assistance, and a company numbering some twenty- 
eight or thirty, all young men, under the command of J. K. Lamerick, of after celeb- 
rity, proceeded instantly to their assistance, arriving on Big Bend, in front of and across 
the river from the Indian rancheria, a short time previous to Steele's arrival. Besides 
the companies of Lamerick and Steele, quite a number of neighboring settlers had 
gathered there, anxious to see the result of the proceedings, and these being armed, 
attached themselves to Lamerick's company in order to assist in the expected engage- 
ment. The whole of Joe and Sam's Indians were at the rancheira, and considerable 
coaxing was necessary to bring them to talk with the whites. Some crossed over, and 
the rest, emboldened by Judge Skinner's promises, also came, to the number of a hun- 
dred or more. The Judge, always favorable to the Indians, tried to bring about a 
reconciliation ; and for this purpose proposed that both parties should remove to a log 
cabin situated at some little distance away. Suspecting treachery, the Indians refused 
to go, although Joe, their peace chief, tried to persuade them to do so. Sam, his brother, 
had recently returned to the rancheria for safety. At this moment John Galvin, one 
of Steele's Yrekans, rudely pushed the muzzle of his rifle against an Indian's naked 
back, desiring him to move toward the cabin. The savage made a natural motion to 
resent the indignity, when Galvin instantly shot him dead. Fighting immediately 
took place. The dismayed and overmatched Indians got behind trees or sprung into 
the river and all was confusion. Those of the savages who were on the north side, 
began firing, but without effect, and hostilities only ceased when thirteen Indians had 
been killed. No white men were injured. Old Joe, the peace chief, clasped his arms 
about Martin Angell and clung desperately to him for protection. He was saved from 
his impending fate by Angell and two or three others, who kept off the excited throng 
of whites. 

Fighting ceased, and arrangements were made for the morrow's operations. 
Steele, with his Yrekans, agreed to move up the river to a certain point, cross the 



INDIAN WARS. 203 

stream at Hailey's ferry and come down on the north bank to the vicinity of the 
rancheria. A detachment of Lamerick's company, embracing mainly the settlers who 
had proffered their services, was appointed to go down the river, cross and gain the top 
of upper Table Rock, whence they could command the vicinity. The main body, 
under Lamerick, rendezvoused at Ambrose's ranch and at night returned to the scene 
of the fight and crossed in the darkness at a very dangerous and difficult ford near the 
rancheria. When across they stopped until it grew light, and then moved toward the 
Indian stronghold which was surrounded by thick shrubbery, interlaced and nearly 
impervious to man or beast. When within shooting distance the Indians opened fire 
on them, which was returned, and as the expected reinforcements had not arrived, the 
troops had to wait. Sometime in the forenoon the settlers appeared, when the Indians 
immediately proclaimed their desire for a klose wa wa. This the volunteers somewhat 
objected to, as it dispelled all chance of fighting for which they were eager and 
now so well prejmred. A council of war was held, and it Avas decided that in view 
of the fact that the Indians had already suffered much damage, and the cause of 
the difficulty did not warrant a war of extermination, it would be best to have a 
talk. The contending forces soon came to an amicable understanding and agreed 
to let the past be buried with the hatchet, and then the volunteers returned 
home. Steele's company moved down the river as agreed upon, but found that 
peace had been restored before their arrival. They then returned to Yreka. Even 
their homeward journey was not without its share of excitement, for it appears 
the party, in order to avoid Tipsu Tyee, who was supposed to spend his time watching 
for the scalps of all those who passed his domains, took a wide and painful circuit 
through the untrodden wilds and suffered somewhat from hunger as well as apprehen- 
sion. The Steele expedition failed to arrest the two murderers, and was beside some- 
what expensive to its leader, who afterwards deposed that it cost him $2,000 which 
he could get nobody to pay. 

About the time of Steele's departure from Yreka, Ben Wright, the Indian fighter 
par excellence of all the country around, also set out from that town in search of the 
two murderers of Woodman ; he was accompanied by several Indians, among them 
being Scar-face, a Shasta sub-chief, a man much suspected by the whites. Proceeding 
toward the Klamath the party was divided and Scar-face, venturing near Yreka alone, 
was seen and pursued by several whites who sought to add him to their already long- 
list of "good Indians" slain in revenge for the killing of a man they had doubtless 
never heard of. The terror-struck Indian, on foot as he was, led them a race of 
eighteen miles along the hill sides before he was taken by his mounted pursuers. He 
was then hung to a tree in what is now known as Scar-face gulch. Wright was more 
fortunate than Steele in his search, for he returned to Scott valley with two prisoners, 
who were tried by a citizens' court at the Lone Star ranch, where immense crowds of 
men from Yreka, Humbug, Scott river and other mining centers attended. They found 
one of the prisoners guilty and hanged him immediately ; the other one was allowed 
to go. Thus ended the Woodman tragedy. 

The people of Jacksonville and Yreka became much exercised in the summer of 
1852 in regard to the probable fate of the immigrants of that year, who were coming 



204 



INDIAN WARS. 



in large numbers by way of the southern route from Fort Hall via Clear lake and Tule 
lake. The Indians on the route, consisting mainly of Piutes and Modocs, had long 
been regarded as hostile, and the advance parties of that year's immigration reported 
them as being exceedingly troublesome. During the previous year the settlers of 
Yreka had lost quite a number of horses by the Modocs, part of them being recovered 
by Ben Wright with a small company of miners, who pursued the Indians. This Ben 
Wright enters largely into the history of Indian matters in Northern California and 
Southern Oregon, and divides the honors of a successful Indian fighter with such 
men as Kit Carson and other celebrated frontiersmen. Much has been written of him, 
and his career would appear to bear out in full both the praises bestowed on him as 
a courageous and successful scout and a skilled mountaineer. In any other walk 
of life, or amid any other surroundings, Wright doubtless would never have been 
heard of. But circumstance, which has made and marred the fortune of so many, 
raised him into prominence as an " Indian fighter " — an unenviable occupation, one 
would think, but seemingly the object of many men's ambition. Wright, we are told, 
was the son of Quaker parents ; but the peaceful tenets of that sect were set at naught 
by their son, who was possessed of a spirit of adventure and a disposition as foolhardy 
and reckless as ever guided man. After years spent in living with or fighting against 
Indians, he found himself, in the early part of 1851, on Scott river, a digger of gold. 
From here he went, during the same year, in search of the stolen horses, and returned 
measurably successful, driving the horses and carrying some Indian scalps. Indeed he 
was quite an Indian in habits and appearance, living with a squaw, wearing long, black 
and gloss}^ hair, which fell to his belt — a fashion aped by the inferior cow boy — dress- 
ing in buckskin and getting himself up to look the Indian as nearly as possible. He 
fought Indians after the manner of their own warfare, even to the scalping and muti- 
lating of the dead, and to the use of strategy and treachery to get the foe within his 
grasp; but to his own race he was ever true and honorable, though his associates were 
far below even the low standard of society then existing. By the Indians who encoun- 
tered him, he was regarded as the greatest warrior living; and taking all things together 
he was just the man for the emergency. Let the good results and the accompanying 
circumstances be the palliation of his methods. 

Early in the summer of J 852, a letter was received at Yreka from an immigrant, 
who was on his way to that place, saying that great suffering would ensue if the train 
was not met by a supply of provisions. In consequence of this statement, a company 
of men was organized, with Charles McDermit as captain, and provisions being con- 
tributed by merchants and others of Yreka, the train set out for Lost river. After 
passing Tule lake they were met by a party of men who had }3acked across the j)lains. 
McDermit and his company went on, and the packers continued toward Yreka. When 
they reached Bloody Point, on the north side of Tule lake, they were surprised by the 
Modocs who were hid in the tules bordering the trail, and who rose up and discharged 
volleys of arrows at them at short range. All these men were killed save one, Coffin 
by name, who cut the pack from ahorse, mounted the animal and riding to Yreka gave 
the alarm. Bloody Point is a place on the north side of the lake where a spur of the 
mountains runs down close to the lake shore. Around this spur the old emigrant trail 



r ' -' 




TO 
O 

-a 
m 
m 



m sfcd 


< 


m 


Z 


CO 


G1 


> 


r— 


n 


en 


<c 




i — 


r— 


m 




c; 


O 


C .-' V: 


CT 


r— 


> ' iC 


C/J J§§ 


" fl 



— HI <;'-■ 







INDIAN WARS. 205 

passed, just beyond being a large, open flat, covered with tules, wild rye and bunch 
grass. This was a favorite place of ambuscade. 

When Coffin arrived in Yreka the news at once spread far and wide. Ben 
Wright was sent for, and a company of twenty-seven men quickly volunteered to serve 
under him in an expedition to annihilate utterly and without remorse the treacherous 
and blood-thirsty hostiles who performed the deed. These set out without loss of a 
moment, being well supplied with arms, horses and provisions, by the benevolent citi- 
zens of Yreka. But meanwhile the savages had not been idle. McDermit, not hear- 
ing of the tragic fate of the packers, had continued on, meeting at Black Bock two 
teams, for whose guidance he detailed three men, John Onsby, Thomas H. Coats assem- 
blyman-elect of Siskiyou county and a favorably known young man, and James Long. 
About the last of August the teams encamped at Clear lake, and the next day the 
three guides rode on in advance to select a proper halting place at noon. One of the 
trains delayed somewhat to make repairs to wagons, and thus was separated from the 
foremost one, which included thirty men, one woman and a boy. As they came over 
the divide, they saw the Indians about Bloody Point, while the guides were unsus- 
pectingly riding into danger. They disappeared around the point when shots were 
fired, and the three were butchered relentlessly by the savages, who retired again to 
the tides to wait for fresh victims. The men with the train divided themselves into 
a front and a rear guard and kept the savages at bay until reaching the flat. Here 
they made a barricade of their six wagons and retired within it for protection. By 
being constantly on their guard they managed to thwart the attempts of the Indians 
to dispossess them, but were kept closely beleaguered until noon the next day, when 
the Modocs drew off to attack the other train. These men, however, more wise than 
the first, drove over the hill, thus avoiding the ambush so carefully laid for them, and 
found safety in the barricade with the others. 

In the afternoon Ben Wright appeared, and taking in the situation at a glance, 
did not pause to communicate with the whites, but furiously charged the Modocs even 
in the midst of the tules, and attempted to cut them off from their boats. The sav- 
ages stampeded, and making for the water, were mingled indiscriminately with 
Wright's men, who killed them almost without resistance. All along the bank of the 
lake the fight raged ; the volunteers shooting and cutting with a ferocity suited to a 
combat with such cruel adversaries. The savages sought only to reach their boats and 
get out of range, and even in this they but partly succeeded, for an undetermined 
number, ranging from twenty to forty, if we may believe the ordinary accounts, met a 
richly deserved fate. 

Several succeeding days were spent in search for the Modocs' victims, and the 
mangled bodies of many immigrants were found, whose death had not been heard of. 
Two of these were women and one a little child. They were all mutilated and disfig- 
ured horribly, beyond recognition in probably every case. Portions of wagons were 
found, and camp utensils, fire-arms, clothing, money, and other articles, which con- 
clusively showed that an entire emigrant train must have fallen a prey to the demoni- 
acal hostility of the Indians. Twenty-two bodies were found and buried by Wright's 
company and fourteen by that of Captain Boss. Of these last several were of women 
and children, and all disfigured and mutilated. 



206 INDIAN WAES. 

The stay of Captain Ross' Jacksonville company was necessarily shorter than that 
of the Yreka men, but considerable service was done, nevertheless, in protecting immi- 
grants and assisting in the search for the murdered people. The company left Jack- 
sonville in hot haste after thirty men had volunteered, the news of the attack on the 
pack train arriving in the evening. By the next morning the company was ready to 
march. Daniel Barnes was chosen first lieutenant, Nathan Olney, second. Returning 
homeward, Captain Ross escorted Snelling's train, the largest one of the year, safely 
to its destination at Yreka, and afterwards proceeded to Jacksonville. 

A three-montlis' campaign by Wright's company, with active scouting and a good 
deal of skirmishing with hostile parties, effectually protected the immigrant trains 
coming west. Captain Wright being well supplied with ammunition and provisions 
contributed by the people of Northern California, was enabled to protract his stay until 
all the immigrants had passed, some of whom were provided with escorts from his com- 
pany and McDermit's, reducing Wright's strength to eighteen men. With these he 
determined on a campaign against the savages, the main body of whom were securely 
posted on an island in Tule lake.- A company of U. S. dragoons under Major Fitzgerald, 
had materially assisted, by scouting along the shores of the lake, obliging all the 
hostiles to seek refuge on the island. A boat was provided, being hauled out from 
Yreka, in which six armed men reconnoitered almost daily the savages' position. The 
Modocs had large supplies of fish, grass seeds, wo-cus (pond lily), comas, and ip-a, 
which were their chief articles of sustenance, stored away in caches around the lake. 
These were nosed out by Wright's men, assisted by five Shastas and Swill, a Columbia 
river Indian, a stray Umatilla, and destroyed. The loss affected the Modocs seriously, 
and they thought of coming to terms.. Old Mary, a stray squaw, was sent out to the 
island, and after a day or two forty Indians came over and peace appeared about to 
spread her snowy wings over the scene. The object of Captain Wright, however, was 
not to secure peace, but to kill Indians; and this he set about. As to the manner in 
which he did it, accounts differ widely. 

Captain Goodall, now residing at Kanaka Flat, near Jacksonville, may be esteemed 
a credible witness, as he lived in Yreka in 1852 and was intimate with the most of the 
members of the Ben Wright expedition, particularly with the leader. It is reasonable 
to suppose that he was in Wright's confidence as he was instrumental in sending out 
the party, and was the more apt to know with certainty concerning it as he, also, was 
an Indian fighter of experience. The Captain says : " Ben Wright had several pow- 
wows with them, and when at length it was found necessary to close the campaign on 
account of ajDproaching winter and snow, a final talk was had, in which a beef was 
killed and well dosed with strychnine which I bought in Yreka and sent out to Wright. 
This was given to them and by them eaten half raw. But the plan failed of killing all 
of them off, for the heat of the fire deprived the poison of its strength. However it 
was successful thus far, that it made them all very sick with the ' jerks,' and actually 
killed five of them — that is, made good Indians of them; or in other phrase 'sunned 
their moccasins.' ' Captain Wright and company were discharged at Yreka, their 
muster-rolls and accounts made out by Captain Goodall, and they were duly paid by 
the state in scrip, and afterwards by the United States in greenbacks. 



INDIAN WARS. 207 

This is one, and an apparently fair version. Next comes the more commonly 
accepted, but very improbable one of Wright's having poisoned forty Modocs, thus 
annihilating the whole band with the exception, some say, of two who slipped out of 
camp just before the feast of poisoned meat began. Several writers have adopted this 
tale, for example, A. B. Meacham in his ridiculous book "Wigwam and Warpath." 
It will be seen that the above stories differ only as to the number of Indians killed ; 
which would naturally be exaggerated as time went on. Hence as between the two, 
we must incline to that of Captain Goodall. Wright, it is said, persistently denied the 
story; not probably from any deference to refined people's feelings, and certainly not 
from any desire to screen himself from any measure of obloquy, for he was probably 
very far from caring for anybody's opinion. 

Finally we shall consider the account published in the History of Siskiyou county 
in 1881. This account, evidently prepared with great pains and unlimited attention 
to accuracy of details, was written to be read by people who might be presumed to know 
a great deal concerning the matter. Thus far, we believe, it has escaped adverse 
criticism, which in the event of error it would be nearly certain to meet. A synopsis 
of the account is as follows : 

Negotiations being in progress, word was sent to the Modocs to come in and feast. 
The camp was on Lost river, and the Indians who speedily came in, camped near by 
and on the bank of the river, both camps being about one-fourth of a mile above the 
natural bridge, and not far from the spot where Captain Jack and the troops first fought, 
ushering in the Modoc war of 1873. Some half hundred braves, with their squaws, 
made their home in camp and lived upon the provisions of the whites. Old Schonchin, 
head chief, foreseeing trouble, left the camp as did others. It appears to have been 
Wright's intention from the first to endeavor to get the Indians to restore the valuables 
they were thought to have stolen from immigrants, and then to bring on a fight and 
kill all of the savages he could. The time was November; the river was very low, and 
had two banks, forming a high and a low terrace. On the higher one the whites slept, 
while they cooked and ate on the lower one. The Indians camped but a few yards 
away, mingled with the whites during eating times, both parties leaving their arms in 
camp. Wright, it is said, discovered a plan on the part of the Indians to surprise and 
massacre his force; but be that as it may, he was too quick for them, and put in effect 
his own plan without delay. Sending six men across the river to where they would be 
opposite the Indian camp and hence able to cut off their passage across the stream, 
Wright himself went down among the Indians who were scattered about the camp-fires 
and shot dead, as a preconcerted signal, a young buck. The other whites being ready, 
continued the work of destruction and soon no men were left alive except John Schon- 
chin and Curly-headed Doctor. These two escaped and were heard of twenty years 
after, in the murder of Canby and Thomas. Forty-seven braves and several squaws 
were killed. Wright's men numbered but nineteen, including two Indians. Their 
casualties consisted in severe wounds to Isaac Sanbanch, Poland and Brown. The rest 
were uninjured. Wright's company then returned to Yreka and were grandly feted 
by the people. They rode into town accompanied by a guard of honor, their forty-odd 
scalps and sundry other mementoes dangling from their rifles, hats, and horses' heads. 
Cheers rent the air. The enthusiastic crowd lifted them from their horses and bore 



, 



INDIAN WARS. 



209 



Indians were hanged, though Taylor tried to excuse himself by saying he only stabbed 
the whites with a little knife, while the others used large ones. 

Thus runs the account, and as it is the only account known to be in existence, we 
hive an important case to consider, without any corroborative evidence whatever, for 
there were no eye-witnesses to the murder after the Indians had suffered for the crime. 
There was no investigation at all ; and if such had been fully made it might have 
resulted in showing that the seven missing miners had, with the characteristic rest- 
lessness of their class, packed up their tools and left unceremoniously for richer placers, 
some time before they began to be missed. It is certainly a common enough proceed- 
ing for miners to desert their claims without giving notice, and possibly this is what 
the seven did. 

It was in the fall of 1852 that Fort Jones, in Scott valley, Siskiyou county, was 
established. Major Fitzgerald, on returning from the Modoc country, somewhat 
before the Lost river massacre by Ben Wright, selected the site of the new post, whose 
first garrison was his comj^any of dragoons. The major being soon ordered hence, was 
relieved in command of the post by Captain B. R. Alden, and he by Captain, 
afterwards Major General H. M. Judah. Under the latter were three lieutenants, J. 
C. Bonnicastle, George Crook and J. B. Hood. The two latter names are now house- 
hold words for the American people. Crook, as is well known, fought well against 
the rebellion and became a major general of volunteers, and since the war has done 
invaluable service as a subduer of Indians, winning thereby a great reputation. Hood 
was even more famous during the civil war, and taking sides with the south was Joe 
Johnston's successor in command of the great army that faced Sherman in his cele- 
brated Atlanta campaign and was disastrously beaten by Thomas at Nashville. Gen- 
eral Hood died several years since. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE WAR OF 1853. 

A Prejudiced Writer Criticised— How the Indians Procured their Arms— Indian Characteristics — Their Allies Not 
to be Depended on — The Cow Creeks and Grave Creeks in Trouble— The Rogue Rivers Commit Outrages — 
Murder of Edwards — An Indian's Revenge — Murder of Wills and Nolan — Killing of Hodgings, Gibbs, Smith, 
and Whitmore — Miners and Settlers Seek Safety — Organization of a Military Force — Californians Offer their 
Services — Energetic Officers and Efficient Troops — The Indians also Organize — The First Fight an Indian 
Victory — Lieutenant Griffin's Battle — Disgraceful Atrocities— The Governor and General Lane Appealed to-- 
The Indians Evacuate Table Rock — Ely's Desperate Fight — General Lane Arrives and Assumes Command — 
Disposition for a Campaign — The Army Follows the Indians — Finds Them — Battle of Evans' Creek — A Drawn 
Battle — General Lane Wounded — A Peace Talk — Armistice Arranged — Casualties. 

A certain writer for the public prints, while treating of the condition of the In- 
dian affairs in Southern Oregon in the early part of 1853, made use of the following 
language : 

" The summary justice dealt out to ' Taylor' had the effect to somewhat check for 
a time the depredations of the Indians north of the Siskiyous, and they became more 
friendly, and more profuse in their expressions of good will toward the whites. These 
professions proved only a blind, however, under which the Indians matured plans, and 
collected munitions of war for the renewal of hostilities on a larger scale. By resort- 
ing to this ruse, they were enabled to augment their forces from neighboring tribes, 
and form alliances unsuspected by the whites. In the meantime, being allowed access 
to the premises of the settlers, they procured more or less guns and pistols by theft or 
otherwise ; and also to accumulate considerable ammunition. In those days all the 
tea brought into the country was put up in lead caddies, which being emptied, were 
thrown out with the rubbish, and from this source the Indians collected a very abund- 
ant supply of lead, and through a few unprincipled dealers they procured a large 
amount of powder." 

It may be a pleasing diversion to examine a few of the statements made with such 
assurance. It is said that the Indians began, in the spring of 1853, to court the 
friendship of the whites. This article evidently refers to the Rogue Rivers almost 
exclusively, thus seeming to imply that this tribe had not thus far been friendly to the 
whites. Yet there is an immense amount of first-rate evidence to show that this tribe 
was on excellent terms with the whites in 1852, both before and after the fight at Big- 
Bend. So quickly were the scars of war healed that Sam and Joe felt highly aggrieved 
because they were not invited to the celebration given at Jacksonville in honor of Cap- 
tain Lamerick and his brave followers. Several highly respected pioneer inhabitants 
of Jacksonville, including two or more ladies, have now (1883) given testimony con- 
cerning the unvarying courtesy and gentleness of the principal chiefs of the tribe, 
when met in times of peace. Sam and Joe, they say, were favored guests in private 



INDIAN AVARS. 



211 



houses ; and by their dignified and manly ways, won the approbation of all who could 
appreciate their simple yet honorable character. They were, to be sure, only ignorant 
and uncultured savages, and perhaps entirely incapable of a high degree of civiliza- 
tion ; yet with proper treatment they remained harmless and peaceable individuals, 
however intractable and fierce a great part of their tribe might have been. To charge 
these simple natives, who were merely children of a larger growth, with such, a degree 
of duplicity as that implied by the writer we have quoted, seems absurd. And at the 
time mentioned nearly all the Rogue Rivers were in the habit of coming into Jack- 
sonville, where they begged food, fraternized with the lowest whites, and were friendly 
to all. Sam, Joe, Tipsu Tyee, Queen Mary, and others were familiar figures. These 
barbarian aristocrats were immeasurably above their subjects, as they never conde- 
scended to beg, but took with ready grace what was offered. Their indignation was 
quickly roused when their worth and dignity were slighted, and to neglect to invite 
them to eat at the dinner hour was an offense which their haughty blood could not 
brook. Upon such occasions they would stalk indignantly homeward. Tipsu Tyee? 
whose home was in the mountains between Applegate and Bear creeks, used frequently 
to be seen in Jacks omrille. This savage, less interesting and attractive than the others, 
was a bugbear to the miners and settlers, because of his occasional " insolence" and 
mysterious character. Yet his impulses were not all bad, as the following anecdote 
will show. This is given on the authority of Henry Klippel, who was an eye-witness. 
John Sands, a rough miner, intoxicated himself, and meeting Tipsu Tyee in Jack- 
sonville, struck him over the head with a stick. The insulted savage, bow in hand, 
drew an arrow to the head, and apj)eared about to pierce his assailant's heart; but shout- 
ing "Hi yu Turn; nika wake memeloose mika!" lowered his bow. Experts in the Chinook 
jargon translate the above as "You are very drunk, or I would kill you!" This is 
certainly a case of forbearance on the Indian's part, as he had ample opportunity for 
escape to his brushy kingdom in the hills. 

Such incidents and peculiarities throw considerable light upon the character of the 
savages, and go far to prove the improbability of any such deep plots as many have 
ascribed. Their schemes could not have taken such a range as we are assured they 
did. All that we can allow in this connection is that the Indians were in time of war 
accustomed to receive re-inforcements from such neighboring tribes as were accustomed 
to fraternize with them in time of peace. But it should not be supposed that this aid 
was regularly granted or withheld by the chiefs or headmen of the neighboring tribes, 
for on such occasions the young men were accustomed to use their own discretion as to 
their individual acts of assistance, and were not under sufficiently strict command to be 
deterred from doing as they liked in that regard. There is a restless element in every 
tribe and on every reservation, consisting chiefly of young braves desirous of achieving 
renown in battle, and the history of Indian wars, almost without an exception, shows 
that the ranks of the hostiles are swelled by such volunteers from neighboring tribes, 
without any preconcerted arrangement being made; and, it may be remarked, this 
element seems at times as willing to fight on one side as the other, and to their assist- 
ance we owe many of our greatest victories over hostile tribes. The extent of the aid 
furnished is an important, but indeterminate matter. It seems consistent with the 
Indian character that aid so furnished would be of a most unreliable sort indeed. It 



212 INDIAN WARS. 

would most likely occur that the volatile young warriors would desert the cause of 
their friends when the novelty of the occasion was worn off. Such seems to have been 
the case in the principal war in Southern Oregon, as we shall see. Before dismissing 
the subject we may enunciate the broad general truth, that the tribes of American 
Indians have been found altogether unable to combine together in the sense in which 
political combinations are spoken of. It is a significant fact that not even Tecumseh 
nor Pontiac nor King Philip was able to unite several tribes permanently against the 
whites. Had the latter, with his consummate strategy, been able to consolidate the 
New England tribes, the unavoidable result would have been to exterminate the Puri- 
tan colonists of that country. It is true of the Indians of New York and generally 
throughout the thirteen original colonies, that in their incipiency a thorough union of 
the hostile tribes would have resulted in a total extinction of the white inhabitants; but 
providentially for the pioneers of these now powerful and prosperous states, the Indian 
character was incapable of such union. It is true that Pontiac, and afterwards Tecumseh 
and his brother the Prophet, brought about a sort of confederacy between the great 
Indian tribes of the Ohio valley ; but these existed for but little time ; and we may 
conclude that if these chiefs of experience and intelligence, operating as they did at a 
great distance from the whites, could not effectually unite the Indians of their time, the 
Rogue River chiefs, surrounded and watched by whites, most certainly could not effect 
that result. It appears consistent to allow only that the Indian allies were but chance 
visitors or errant warriors from neighboring tribes. 

The writer further says: "They procured more or less guns and pistols by theft 
and otherwise." Giving its due weight to the word otherwise, no one can dispute that 
assertion. To ascribe procurement by theft, when it is an uudisputed fact that their 
arms were usually procured by a much viler means, is to avoid a topic whose relative 
importance excuses the indelicacy of naming it. Every one of experience knows that 
the Indians often came into possession of their guns, horses, ammunition and other 
valuables through the sale of their women. It is useless to disguise the fact. White 
men became the eager purchasers, and the Indian who had traded a bad wife for a good 
gun, felt equally the gainer. Thus both parties were satisfied and harmony prevailed. 
But by and by the new found bride might tire of her white lord, and taking advantage 
of his absence, might run away, seeking again the wigwam of her earliest love. In 
such a case the impassive brave awaited the coming also of the white Lothario, whose 
judgment was warped by affection, and who to regain the society of his bright particu- 
lar star, would give a second gun. Thus the Indians grew rich in guns, while the 
white men found their compensation in gentle woman's blessed companionship. Thus 
the Indian warriors placed themselves on a war footing, while the whites were figura- 
tively sunk in luxurious ease. This is certainly an easier mode of providing arms and 
munitions of war than by theft, even were Sam and Joe's men such expert thieves as 
certain individuals insist. 

Throughout the spring and the first part of the summer of 1853 little was heard 
of the depredations of the savages, only one incident seeming to mar the ordinary 
relations of white man and native. The event referred to was the murder of two miners, 
one an American, the other a Mexican, in their cabin on Cow creek, and the robbery 
of their domicile. As a matter of course the deed was laid to Indians and probably 



CO 



CO 

— I 
o 
zc 
m 



o 

CO 



^ 



-a 

za 

a 

-o 
m 

31 



m 

> 







a 



> 

CO 

X 
2] 
m 



C~3 

a 

a 

CO 

c-j 
a 




:_T 



INDIAN WARS. 213 

justly; for the Indians along that creek had a very bad reputation. They were of the 
Umpqua family, but had independent chiefs and were far more fierce and formidable 
than the humble natives of the Umpqua valley proper. They had committed several 
small acts of depredation on the settlers in that vicinity, such as attempting to burn 
grain-fields, out-buildings, etc., but had not, it appears, entered upon any more danger- 
ous work until the killing referred to. The unfortunate Grave creek band allowed 
themselves to be mixed up in the affair, and suffered ill consequences ; for a party of 
whites proceeded to their encampment and fired unceremoniously into it, killing one 
Indian and wounding another. The total number of Grave Creek Indians who were 
killed in consequence of their supposed complicity in the acts and in the so-called mur- 
der on Galice creek previously spoken of was eleven; of whom six were hanged and 
five shot. The Grave creek tribe was rapidly becoming extinct. 

In August, 1853, the Indians broke out into open war, or to limit this assertion 
somewhat, certain Indians, indifferently from various bands of the Rogue Rivers, com- 
mitted several bloody atrocities in the valley, alarming the settlers and causing them to 
seek the protection of fortified places, while the Table Rock band under Sam and Joe, 
joined by several other bands, left their pleasant location and retired to the hills to- 
escape the vengeance of the whites from whom their leaders wished to permanently 
remove. 

On the fourth of August the first act of the new era of hostilities took place, 
being the murder of Edward Edwards, an old farmer, residing on Bear creek, about 
two and a half miles below the town site of Phoenix. In his absence the murderers: 
secreted themselves in his cabin, and on his return at noon, shot him with his own 
gun, and after pillaging the house, fled to the hills. There were but few concerned in 
the deed, and subsequent developments fixed the guilt upon Indian Thompson, who 
w T as surrendered by the chiefs at Table Rock, tried in the United States circuit court in 
February, 1854, and hanged two days later. According to the prevailing account of 
the circumstances of this murder, the deed was committed in revenge for an act of 
injustice perpetrated on an Indian by a Mexican named Debusha, who enticed or ab- 
ducted a squaw from Jim's village, and when the chief and the woman's husband went 
to reclaim her they were met by threats of shooting. Naturally disturbed by the 
affair, the aggrieved brave started upon a tour of vengeance against the white race, 
killing Edwards and attempting other crimes. Colonel Ross, a prominent actor in the 
events that followed, identifies the murderer as Pe-oos-e-cut, a nephew of Chief John, 
of the Applegates, and represents the difficulty substantially as above stated, adding 
the particulars that Debusha had bought the squaw, of whom the Indian had been the 
lover. She ran away to a camp on Bear creek, and the Mexican, with Charles Harris, 
went to the camp and took her from Pe-oos-e-cut, much to his anger and grief. The 
disappointed lover next day began venting his rage against the whites by killing cattle 
and also shot Edwards as described. No sooner had the murder become known, than 
other savages became imbued with a desire to kill, and during the following fortnight 
several murders were committed, through treachery mainly. 

On August fifth, occurred the murder of Thomas Wills, a member of the firm of 
Wills & Kyle, merchants of Jacksonville, who was shot when near the Berry house, 
on the Phoenix road, and almost within the town of Jacksonville. The murder was 



214 INDIAN WARS. 

committed at about the hour of twilight. The report of the Indian's gun was heard, 
as well as the wounded man's cries, and immediately his saddle-mule galloped into 
town, with blood on the saddle. Men went hurriedly to his assistance, but saw no 
Indians. The wound was through the back-bone, and necessarily fatal, although the 
victim lingered until August seventeenth. Excitement prevailed throughout the place 
and every man of Jacksonville's overflowing population armed himself and constituted 
himself a member of an impromptu committee of safety. The alarm was increased 
by a third murder which took place the following morning (August sixth.) The vic- 
tim was Rhodes Nolan, a miner on Jackson creek, who, in returning from town, at 
sunrise, after a night of watching to repel anticipated assaults, was shot as he entered 
his cabin door. 

Somewhat later than the events mentioned above, a very serious murder, or per- 
haps it may be called massacre, took place in the upper part of Bear creek, resulting 
in the death of several persons aud the serious wounding of others. Tipsu "Tyee 
became hostile, probably in consequence of the influence of the Indians in the lower 
valley, and an attack was made on settlers in the vicinity of the site of Ashland. 
Tipsu Tyee was not present at this event, and no evidence tends to show the degree of 
his participation therein ; nor is it material to the story. A detached party of his 
band, under sub-chief Sambo, being temporarily encamped on Neil creek at the time 
of the Edwards-Wills-Nolan murders, excited the suspicion of the white men newly 
settled in the upper part of Bear creek valley and on tributary streams, who united to 
the number of twelve and proceeded to the Indian camp. The whites being armed, 
fired on the savages, who took refuge, as is their invariable custom, in the brush, 
whence they fired at the whites and shot Patrick Dunn through the left shoulder and 
Andrew Carter through the left arm. "One Indian only is known to have been 
killed, and a few slightly wounded." According to the accounts of interested parties 
this action occurred on the thirteenth of August. On the same day or that following, 
the Indian women and children of the encampment were collected and taken to the 
camp of the whites, which was the house of Messrs. Alberding and Dunn (now the 
General Tolman place), where a stockade had been constructed for the protection of 
the settlers and their families. On the seventeenth, Sambo and his warriors, number- 
ing a dozen or so, came in voluntarily and surrendered to the whites and were pro- 
vided for and retained at the " fort." Several families, including those of Samuel 
Grubb, Frederick Heber, Asa Fordyce, Isaac Hill and Robert Wright, were at this 
station, besides several single men whom the idea of mutual protection had drawn 
there. Having ample confidence in the good faith of their savage guests, no great 
precautions were taken to guard against surprise, and so the Indians had ample op- 
portunity for an outbreak, which they effected on the morni ng of the twenty-third of 
August, as asserted by survivors, but on the seventeenth as given in various printed 
records. On this occasion they killed Hugh Smith, and wounded John Gibbs, Wil- 
liam Hodgings or Hudgins, Brice Whitmore, Morris Howell and B. Morris. Gibbs 
died soon after at the stockade at Wagner's, where the whites moved for protection ; 
Hodgings expired while being taken to - Jacksonville, and Whitmore, reaching that 
place, died within a few days. The others recovered, as did Dunn and Carter, pre- 
viously wounded, both of the men being alive and well at this day. 



INDIAN WARS. 215 

In consequence of the murders described, a spirit of alarm necessarily spread itself 
throughout the country. The miners on Applegate, Foot's, and other creeks aban- 
doned their places and come into Jacksonville for protection. The settlers in various 
directions did the same, some of those who were better prepared, " forting up," with the 
intention of resisting Indian attacks. The people who thus prepared to defend them- 
selves were gathered mainly at T' Vault's j)lace (the Dardanelles) , N. C. Dean's (Willow 
springs), Martin Angell's (now Captain Barnes') and Jacob Wagner's, in Upper Bear 
creek valley. As soon as possible a military company was formed in Jacksonville, 
having Ben Armstrong as captain, and John F. Miller, B. B. Griffin and Abel George 
as lieutenants, and Charles E. Drew, quartermaster. But within a few days this organi- 
zation was superseded by others, a company of home-guards taking the most of the 
men. This latter company was under the command of W. W. Fowler. A large pro- 
portion of the houses outside of Jacksonville were abandoned by the owners, and these 
were mostly burned by roving parties of natives, who were scattered for a few clays 
over the whole valley. 

The people were compelled to seek assistance from wherever it might be procured 
and with this view dispatched messengers to Fort Jones the newly established military 
post near Yreka. The messengers arrived there on the eighth of August, and Captain 
B. R. Alden, 4th U. S. Infantry, commanding Fort Jones, instantly set out for the 
scene of hostilities with a very small force of infantry, not more than twenty men all 
told, but with forty or fifty muskets, and a supply of cartridges. Simultaneously a 
large number of volunteers presented themselves at Yreka and agreed to serve under 
Captain J. P. Goodall and Jacob Rhoades, well known as Indian fighters. Captain 
Goodall's company numbered ninety men, all mounted, as were those of Rhoades' com- 
pany which was about sixty strong. Unfortunately the muster-rolls of these two com- 
panies have been lost, so that it is impossible to present the names of alLthe members. 
Of Captain Goodall's company a partial list only is given, which will be found in its 
appropriate place. 

The volunteers raised in Southern Oregon were six companies in all, having as 
captains, R. L. Williams, J. K. Lamerick, John F. Miller, Elias A. Owens, and W. 
W. Fowler. They were ordered — with the exception of Fowler's company, which was 
raised exclusively for the protection of Jacksonville, and which did no outside service — 
to rendezvous at Camp Stewart. An organization was here effected and the troops, 
the most formidable, and numerous body of men thus far seen in this j>art of Oregon, 
assumed the semblance of an army. Each volunteer furnished, as a matter of course, 
his own riding animal and equipments. A quartermaster's department was extem- 
porized for the occasion, and B. F. Dowell became master of transportation or equivalent 
title. Captain Alden, by wish of the volunteers, assumed command of the whole force, 
whose numbers probably reached three hundred men. All the volunteers were of 
course without uniforms, wearing merely their ordinary clothes, and carrying rifles and 
revolvers as dissimilar in pattern as their own garments. Their saddle animals were 
horses and mules indiscriminately. It would be difficult to conceive a body of soldiery 
of more irregular type than the "army" at Camp Stewart; but it would be equally 
difficult to imagine a body of men better adapted for Indian fighting in a rough coun- 
try, or for that matter, in any country. The sequel of the short campaign which they 



216 INDIAN WARS. 

carried on showed conclusively that with energetic and reliable commanders they were 
■capable of the greatest services. The successful issue of their expedition it would seem 
was due to the energy and vigor with which their leaders moved upon the foe, and 
having found him, fought him relentlessly. 

Meanwhile, the malcontents who were scattered about the valley doing much dam- 
age in the way of burning houses, barns, fences, etc., left that employment and sought 
security with Joe, Sam and other chiefs, who were gathered at Table Rock, making 
what preparations they could against the threatened attack of the whites. They selected 
a naturally strong position and fortified it with considerable skill, digging a ditch, 
rearing a wall of rocks and earth, and otherwise strengthening the place. They were 
reported to be in strong force, numbering not less than 300 (an exaggeration, doubtless), 
and consisting of the Table Rock band, and the subsidiary bands of Jim and Jake 
(the Butte Creek Indians), with the Applegates and a few Grave Creeks. These minor 
bands had been worse treated by the whites than had the Table Rock Indians, and in 
consequence were much worse affected toward them, and as a result they entered into 
the coming contest with alacrity. The attitude of Tipsu Tyee was a subject of anxiety 
to the endangered whites, but much to their surprise this Indian refrained entinely from 
hostilities throughout the war, which would have been thought a fitting opportunity 
for his hatred to vent itself. But he kept aloof from either party, doubtless fearing the 
whites less than the defection of the lukewarm chiefs, Sam and Joe, who were deemed 
likely to accept the first overtures on the part of the whites. Be the cause what it 
may, he remained personally in seclusion until after the close of hostilities. 

From the eighth to the sixteenth of August, movements were made with a view 
of ascertaining the savages' whereabouts, and the vicinity of Table Rock was recon- 
noiterecl, when it was found that they had abandoned their position and retired to the 
north or west. Their trail showed that they were in great force and nearly the whole 
tribe were together. They had sent out their scouts, and up to this time knew every 
move of the whites. They declared themselves satisfied to await the decision of war- 
fare, and that they would fight until every white man was driven from the valley. 
Such bold, defiant talk naturally produced a great effect upon the whites, who were imbued 
with a sense of the fighting qualities of the Indians, and added to the anxiety of many for 
their families increased the feeling of apprehension throughout the valley. This feel- 
ing was heightened by the news of an engagement, the first of the war, between a 
party of whites under Lieutenant Burrell B. Griffin, of Miller's company, and a party 
of Indians under the redoubtable Old John. This fight occurred on the twelfth of 
August, on Applegate creek, near the mouth of Williams' creek (subsequently so 
named), The lieutenant, with some twenty men, had reached the main Applegate, at 
the mouth of Little Applegate, and proceeding thence to Sterling creek, destroyed an 
Indian village. Some little resistance was experienced, and Private George Anderson 
was wounded in the hip. Moving down to Williams' creek, the next day, an Indian 
band was found and followed, and when several miles up that stream, the men were 
ambushed by their wily foes and defeated with the loss of two, Lieutenant Griffin 
severely wounded in the right leg, and Private Francis Garnett killed. The engage- 
ment, which lasted three-quarters of an hour, was closely contested, and bravely and 
skillfully fought. The Indians, better sheltered than the whites, met with a heavier 










Times Printing Building, Ghas.Nickeil,Proprietor. 

Jacksonville. 



INDIAN WARS. 217 

loss, as they acknowledged live killed and wounded. The soldiers were compelled to 
retreat finally, leaving the battle-field to the Indians. The savages probably outnum- 
bered the whites by at least tw r o to one, and had the additional advantage of being at 
home. But more than anything else that contributed to this success was the fact that 
Old John, their redoubtable war chief, led them, and by his strategy and foresight 
secured a victory. If their chief was so warlike the individual warriors of his band 
were hardly less so. Of one of them, " Bill," w T ho was wounded at the fight on Wil- 
liams' creek, General Lane once said that he never met a braver man in peace or war. 
Their opponents, without in the least recognizing the valor and shrewdness of John 
and his band, sought to explain Griffin's defeat by asserting that the hostiles num- 
bered from three hundred to five hundred — which is a palpable absurdity. Probably 
there were not more than fifty Indians present at the fight, nor were more required. 

John B. Harding (or Harden) and William B. Bose, of Lamerick's company 
were killed on August tenth, near Willow Springs, The two, with one or more com- 
panions, were on detached service, or, according to other accounts, were proceeding to 
Jacksonville ; when having reached a point a mile north of the springs they were 
fired on by Indians concealed near the road, and Bose was killed, and Harding was 
shot through the hips. He escaped, as did the others, but died on August fourteenth 
(some accounts relate that he died in eleven hours). Bose's body falling by the way- 
side, was stripped and mutilated, the throat cut and an eye gouged out ; six hundred 
dollars upon his person were taken, and his saddle horse also. 

Other incidents of the eventful period preceding Lane's campaign of August 
21-25, were the capture and shooting of a suspected Indian by Angus Brown, the 
hanging of an Indian child in the town of Jacksonville, and other acts of that nature, 
which reflect no credit upon those engaged therein. That stern-visaged war had 
wrought up people to deeds of this sort, is not very remarkable. Five Indians, it is 
credibly reported, were hanged in one day, on a tree which stood near David Linn's 
residence. 

On the fourteenth of August a Mr. Ettlinger was dispatched north, with letters 
to the governor of Oregon and to other parties, setting forth the condition of affairs 
and soliciting aid to prosecute the war. General Lane heard the news when at his 
home on Deer creek, and instantly set about raising volunteers. Fifty men joined his 
party, and with these he set out and traveled rapidly to the scene of hostilities. On 
arriving at Carnj) Stewart he found the main jDart of the troops there, together with 
Captain Alden and his regulars. The command of all was tendered to the General by 
Captain Alden, and by him accepted. Preparations for moving on the enemy had been 
made, and an active campaign was resolved upon. 

On or about the fifteenth, a detachment under Hardy Elliff was sent to the rear of 
the enemy's j)osition behind Table Bock, in order to provoke an engagement ; but their 
position had been evacuated, and the hostiles had withdrawn. On August sixteenth a 
detachment of Goodall's company was sent out, consisting of twenty-two j)icked men, 
commanded by Lieutenant E. Ely, with the design of discovering the enemy's where- 
abouts. So well did they perform their duty, that on arriving at Little Meadows, on 
Evans' or Battle creek, they ran upon the savages and. lost several men in one of the 
sharpest skirmishes that has been knowm in the annals of Indian warfare. The scene 

29 



218 INDIAN WARS. 

of the collision was some two miles northwest of Table Rock, and about the same dis- 
tance from the mouth of the stream which flows into Rogue river at the village now 
called Woodville. It was on the seventeenth of August ; the men had picketed their 
horses in the flat and sat down to enjoy dinner ; sentries were stationed, but soon left 
their posts and gathered with the rest around the smoking viands. Just at this bliss- 
ful moment there came a volley of bullets from a fringe of willows close by, that 
killed and wounded ten of their number. Leaving their horses they rushed to cover 
250 yards away, and gaining a strong position in the brush and amid fallen trees, they 
kept the savages at bay. They fought the enemy in true Indian style, from behind 
the protection of trees and rocks, and probably inflicted considerable injury. Privates 
Terrell and McGonigle set out for help, and before the enemy had completely sur- 
rounded theni got away and hastened to Camp Stewart, where Goodall's company was 
stationed, and reported that they had found the Indians, and that ten men with Lieu- 
tenant Ely were in a precarious situation, seventeen miles off and the Indians hi-as 
sollux. 

Goodall and his men set out at top speed, and in the shortest practicable time 
arrived on the field. J. D. Carly and five others were in the advance, and when the 
Indians saw them they decanrped at once, carrying away eighteen horses, blankets, 
etc. The casualties inflicted on Ely's men were found to be — Sergeant Frank Perry 
and Privates P. Keith, A. Douglas, A. C Colbourn, L. Stukting, and William NefT 
killed outright ; and Lieutenant Ely and Privates Zebulon Sheets, John Alban and 
James Carroll wounded. Carl Vogt, a German, is said to have been killed at this 
fight, although his name is not to be found in any official documents relating to the 
killed in the war. The Indians had fallen back, and the main force under Captain 
Alden came up during the night, and all camped on the flat. The next morning the 
dead were buried with the honors of war. Scouts sent out reported that the Indians 
had retired a long distance into the mountains, setting fire to the woods in their rear, 
and almost obliterating their trail. It was decided by the council of officers that it 
was necessary to return to headquarters and recruit with jerked beef and other frontier 
relishes in preparation for still more arduous duties. This was done ; and General 
Lane most opportunely appearing, received the command of the whole army, as has 
been related. 

The commander-in-chief made the following disposition of his forces. The com- 
panies of Miller and Lamerick, conrposing a battalion in charge of Colonel Ross, were 
ordered to proceed down Rogue river to the mouth of Evans' creek, and thence up that 
stream to the supposed vicinity of the enemy, or to a junction with Captain Alden's 
command, which consisted of his regulars and the two California companies of Goodall 
and Rhoades. This division was ordered to proceed up Trail creek to the battle ground 
where Ely was found by the Indians. The orders were to find the enemy's trail and 
pursue it regardless of the whereabouts of the other battalion. General Lane himself 
proceeded with Captain Alden's division. Scouts reported late in the day of starting 
that the Indians had taken to the mountains west and north of Evans' creek; hence the 
general ordered a halt and the forces encamped for the night. Early on the following 
day (August 23), the line of march was taken up and the Indian trail was followed 
through a very difficult country, mountainous, precipitous and bushy, where there was 



INDIAN WARS. 219 

constant prospect of going astray 3 as the trail left by the savages was very dim and 
nearly obliterated by fire. Late in the afternoon, having crossed a high mountain, the 
command reached a branch of Evans' creek and halted for the night. The horses were 
allowed to feed on the bulrushes which grew by the side of the stream and which alone 
had escaped the forest fires. Indian "sign" had been noticed, it being small patches 
of ground left unburned, recently killed game, etc., thus indicating the proximity of the 
enemy. On the morning of the twenty-fourth, a shot was heard, which was known to 
come from the Indian camp. Scouts came in directly afterward and reported the enemy 
encamped in a thick wood filled with underbrush, and apparently impenetrable to 
horses. General Lane decided to attack instantly. Captain Alden insisted on leading 
the advance with his little force of regulars, and the whole command (with the excep- 
tion of a detachment of ten men under Lieutenant Blair of the Humbug volunteers, 
who were sent to turn the enemy's flank) precipitated themselves on the enemy's posi- 
tion. The first intimation that the savages had of the approach of the army (which 
they doubtless thought still at Camp Stewart), was a volley of bullets. They were not 
stampeded by this rough salute, however, but catching up their guns, entered with zest 
into the fight, while the squaws and other impediamenta were sent out of harm's way. 
A small force having been sent down a ridge to prevent the enemy's escape in that 
direction, all the remaining volunteers were brought into action in the Indians' front, 
and each man selecting a tree, got behind it and fired at the enemy, who were equally 
well concealed. The result was that the casualties were not very numerous. Captain 
Alden was wounded early in the fight, and his regulars had difficulty in preserving 
him from the Indians, who attempted his capture as he lay upon the ground The 
soldiers kept them at bay, however, until the wounded officer was removed to the shelter 
of trees. Pleasant Armstrong, of Yamhill county, a much respected gentleman who 
had volunteered with his friend General Lane, was mortally wounded by a bullet in 
the breast and fell, it is said, exclaiming, "A dead center shot!" The fight was very 
warm, and had lasted for an hour, when the pack trains arrived with their guard. 
Leaving fifteen men to guard the animals, General Lane took command of the others, 
not more than ten in number, and ordered a charge, to drive the natives from their 
cover. Being in advance he approached within thirty yards of the nearest Indians, 
when he received a severe bullet wound through the right arm. Still exposing him- 
self, he was forcibly dragged back behind a tree, where he continued to direct the fight. 
He gave orders to extend the line of battle so as to prevent the Indians from outflank- 
ing his force, and feeling the loss of blood, retired temporarily to have his wound 
attended to. The savages still held their strong position, and it was thought that they 
could not be driven from it. At this juncture the Indians, having found that General 
Lane was in command of the whites, began to call to him and to the soldiers, professing 
their readiness to treat for peace. A close wa-wa seemed very desirable to them, as 
they could not get away, and did not wish to risk further attacks. Robert Metcalf, 
sub-agent for the Indians, went to their camp, and through him and others negotiations 
were commenced, General Lane having returned to the front. Not wishing to inform 
the savages of his wound, the general went among them, having thrown a heavy coat 
over his shoulders so as to conceal his arm. In spite of pain and inconvenience he 
conversed with the Indians throughout an interminable peace talk, and ultimately 



220 INDIAN WARS. 

agreed with them upon terms for a cessation of hostilities. No definite arrangements 
were made upon the occasion, but it was agreed between Chief Joe, who was in charge 
of the Indian force, Sam being absent, that a final peace talk should be held at Table 
Rock, within a few days; and that the Indians should proceed there in a body and 
await the results of the conference. Seven days were agreed upon as the duration of 
the armistice, after which the natives were to deliver up their arms to General Lane, 
and go upon the reservation at Table Rock which was to be, and afterwards was duly 
set off. 

During the following night both sides received accession to their forces, Colonel 
Ross arriving with the battalion, and Chief Sam coming in with about half the war- 
riors, with whom he had been reconnoitering for a permanent camp. It seems that as 
soon as the engagement began, runners were sent out by Joe to apprise his brother of 
the state of affairs and hasten his return. The distance prevented his arrival in time 
to take part in the fight, and his braves had no opportunity to display their valor. It 
is the opinion of many who took part in that battle, that Joe's deliberate intention was 
to throw the whites off their guard by professions of peace, and having done so to re- 
commence hostilities at a time when all the advantages were with his side. It is possi- 
ble that he was only waiting for Sam's braves in order to commence a massacre of hun- 
dreds of sleeping volunteers. It would be in consonance with the Indian character to 
act in that manner, therefore it may have been providential that Ross' battalion arrived 
when it did. 

Peace and good-will reigned between white and red man when war's stern alarms 
were so quickly changed into the piping of peace, and in figurative language the lion 
and the lamb lay down together. The Indian ponies and the American horses were 
turned loose to browse, and the Indians furnished a relief party to assist in bringing in 
the American wounded. They themselves owned to a loss of twelve killed and wounded, 
which is very likely, considering the superior excellence of white men's marksmanship. 
John Scarborough, of the Yreka volunteers, and P. Armstrong, aids to the general, 
were killed, and General Lane, Captain Alden, privates Thomas Hays (Humbug vol- 
unteers), and Henry Flesher and Charles Abbe (Yreka volunteers) were wounded, the 
latter mortally. Captain Alden died two years later from the result of his wound, and 
General Lane never quite recovered from his own hurt. 

As soon as the terms of the armistice were arranged, the troops took up their march 
homeward and went into camp at Hailey's (Bybee's) ferry, giving the location the name 
of Camp Alden, in honor of the gallant Major. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE LANE TREATY OF PEACE AND CONCLUDING EVENTS OF 1853. 

Arrival of Reinforcements— The Army at Camp Alden— An Incident— The Council at Table Rock— The Treaty 
of Peace Signed— Cession of the Indians' Lands— Muster-Rolls of Certain Companies— List of the Killed 
and Wounded— Public Sentiment Concerning the Treaty— Ill-Faith of Certain Whites— Tragedy at Bates' 
House— Affairs on Illinois River— Cruelty of the Miners at Randolph— Indian Atrocities— Murder of Frizzell 
and Mungo — War on Deer Creek — General Lane Visits Tipsu Tyee — Military Affairs— Fort Lane Begun — 
Murder of Kyle— Expedition to the Modoc Country— The United States Pays the War Debt. 

Reinforcements began to arrive from various quarters by the time the forces 
returned to the valley. Ettlinger had faithfully performed his duty, and presented 
the governor with memorials from citizens and officials of Jacksonville and vicinity, 
which set forth the dangerous condition of affairs and apjDealed for help. Among 
other things a howitzer was asked for, and this request was referred by the governor 
to the authorities at Fort Vancouver, who sent the weapon with a supply of ammuni- 
tion, forty muskets with accoutrements, 4,000 cartridges, and some other articles- 
Lieutenant Kautz, since general, was sent in charge of the howitzer, with seven experi- 
enced men. Acting Governor Curry made proclamation for an armed guard of citizen 
volunteers to accompany the Lieutenant and his charge. In obedience to the call forty- 
one men volunteered, and led by J. W. JNesmith, with Lafayette Grover as lieutenant, 
hastened to the scene of hostilities. Lieutenant Grover went in advance with twenty 
men, and was joined at South Umpqua, on September first, by Judge M. P. Deady,, 
who was on his way to Jacksonville to hold court. The next night they stopped at 
Levens' station, and a day or two later came to Table Rock, too late to be of service, 
but in time to assist at the peace talk. Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs 
in Oregon, and Samuel H. Culver, government Indian agent, successor of Judge Skin- 
ner, who had resigned his charge, also arrived. From Port Orford came Captain A. 
J. Smith, with his company of the first dragoons, sixty men in uniform, an imposing 
and unfamiliar sight to the people of the valley. These had slowly and laboriously 
toiled through devious trails, over fallen trees and through the almost imjDenetrable 
wildwood tangles along Rogue river to where their assistance might be needed, but 
only to find their services useless, unless it was to awe the haughty savage whose heart 
was yet divided in its councils. Owing to Palmer's failure to arrive at the time ap- 
pointed, the peace talk was postponed until September tenth. Meantime the volunteers 
lay about headquarters talking over occurrences of the past fortnight and speculating 
upon those to come. They were 400 strong, and had little need to fear the results 
of future deliberations. Besides, Smith and Kautz were at hand and the former's 
sabres and the latter's twelve-pound howitzer with its shells, spherical case shot and 
cannister, would soon make short work of the comparatively defenseless aborigines. 



222 INDIAN WARS. 

The latter, too, talked and thought of the new dispensation of affairs, and looked with 
wonder and awe upon such preparations for their injury, and begged General Lane — 
" Tyee Joe Lane " — not to have the hy-as rifle fired, which took " a hat-full of powder 
and would shoot a tree down." 

The inevitable war correspondent was abroad, even in that day, and under the 
title of " Socks " wrote to the Statesman of his visit to headquarters : 

" Never having seen General Lane my curiosity prompted me to visit his camp 
day before yesterday. Having seen generals in the States togged out in epaulets, gold 
lace, cocked hats and long, shining swords, I expected to find something of the kind 
at headquarters. But fancy my surprise on being introduced to a robust, good-looking 
middle-aged man, with his right arm in a sling, the shirt sleeve slit open and dangling 
bloody from his shoulder, his legs incased in an old pair of gray breeches that looked 
like those worn by General Scott when he was exposed to the ' fire in the rear.' One 
end of them was supported by a buckskin strap, in place of a suspender, while one of 
the legs rested upon the remains of an old boot. His head was ornamented by a for- 
age cap that from its appearance recalled remembrance of Braddock's defeat. This 
composed the uniform of the hero ' who never surrenders.' 

" The ' quarters' were in keeping with the garb of the occupant ; it being a rough 
log cabin about sixteen feet square, with a hole in one side for a door, and destitute of 
floor and chimney. In one corner lay a pile of sacks filled with provisions for the 
troops, in another a stack of guns of all sizes, from the old French musket down to 
the fancy silver-mounted sporting rifle, while in a third seta camj) kettle, a frying-pan, 
a coffee pot minus the spout, a dozen tin cups, four pack saddles, a dirty shirt and a 
moccasin. The fourth corner was occupied by a pair of blankets said to be the gen- 
eral's bed ; and on a projecting puncheon lay ammunition for the stomach in the shape 
of a chunk of raw beef and a wad of dough. In the center of the ' quarters' was a 
space about four feet square for the accommodation of guests. Such being the luxuries 
of a general's quarters you may judge how privates have fared in this war." 

A pleasant incident of the stay at Camp Alden was the flag presentation. The 
ladies of Yreka had decided to honor the braves of that locality who had so promptly 
volunteered in defense of their neighbors across the line, and had prepared flags and 
sent them through Dr. Gatliff to Camp Alden. The doctor gave them to General 
Lane, and a ceremony was arranged for the afternoon of September first. The- two 
companies of Bhoades and Goodall, escorted by Terry's Crescent City Guards (an 
independent organization which volunteered to fight Indians, but performed no service 
owing to the abrupt close of the war), were marched up, and with appropriate words 
the General presented the banners. 

On the tenth of September the leaders of opposing races met at the appointed 
place on the side of Table Rock and discussed and agreed upon terms of peace. The 
occasion was a remarkable one; and brought together many remarkable individuals. 
Many of those who were eye-witnesses of the " peace-talk " still live, and several have 
attained to honor and distinction. From the pens of two of these we have life-like 
and intelligible accounts of that meeting which was in some respects the most remark- 
able occurence that ever took place in Southern Oregon. Judge M. P. Deady wrote 
concerning it : 



INDIAN WARS. 



223 



"The scene of this famous 'peace talk' between Joseph Lane and Indian Joseph — 
two men who had so lately met in mortal combat — was worthy of the pen of Sir 
Walter Scott and the pencil of Salvator Ross. It was on a narrow bench of a long,, 
gently-sloping hill lying over against the noted bluff called Table Rock. The ground 
was thinly coyerd with majestic old pines and rugged oaks, with here and there a clump 
of o-reen oak bushes. About a half mile above the bright mountain stream that threaded 
the narrow valley below sat the two chiefs in council. Lane was in fatigue dress, the 
arm which was wounded at Buena" Vista in a sling from a fresh bullet wound received 
at Battle creek. Indian Joseph, tall, grave and self-possessed, wore a long black robe 
over his ordinary dress. By his side sat Mary, his favorite child and faithful compan- 
ion, then a comparatively handsome young woman, unstained with the vices of civiliza- 
tion. Around these sat on the grass Captain A. J. Smith — now General Smith of St. 
Louis — whohad just arrived from Port Orford with his company of the First Dragoons; 
Captain Alvord, then engaged in the construction of a military road through the 
Umpqua canyon and since paymaster of the U. S. A.; Colonel Bill Martin of Umpqua, 
Colonel John E. Ross of Jacksonville and a few others. A short distance above us on 
the hillside were some hundreds of dusky warriors in fighting gear, reclining quietly 
on the ground. 

" The day was beautiful. To the east of us rose abruptly Table Rock and at its 
base stood Smith's dragoons, waiting anxiously with hand on horse the issue of this 
attempt to make peace without their aid. After a proposition was discussed and settled 
between the two chiefs, the Indian would rise up and communicate the matter to a huge 
warrior who reclined at the foot of a tree quite near us. Then the latter rose up and 
communicated the matter to the host above him, and they belabored it back and forth. 
with many voices. Then the warrior communicated the thought of the multitude on 
the subject back to his chief; and so the discussion went on until an understanding was 
finally reached. Then we separated — the Indians going back to their mountain retreat, 
and the whites to the camp." 

J. W. Nesmith, who was present and quite prominent at the treaty, has left some 
additional particulars of interest. He says : 

" Early in the morning of the tenth of September, we rode toward the Indian 
encampment. Our party consisted of the following persons : General Lane, Joel Palmer 
Samuel Culver, Captain A. J. Smith, 1st Dragoons ; Captain L. F. Mosher, adjutant ; 
Colonel John Ross, Captain J. W. Nesmith, Lieutenant A. V. Kautz, R. B. Metcalf, 
J. D. Mason, T. T. Tierney. After riding a couple of miles we came to where it was 
too steep for horses to ascend, and dismounting, we proceeded on foot. Half a mile of 
scrambling over rocks and through brush brought us into the Indians' stronghold, just 
under the perpendicular cliff of Table Rock where were gathered hundreds of fierce 
and well armed savages. The business of the treaty began at once. Much time was 
lost in translating and re-translating and it was not until late in the afternoon that our 
labors were completed. About the middle of the afternoon an Indian runner arrived, 
bringing intelligence of the murder of an Indian on Applegate creek. He said that a 
company of whites under Captain Owens had that morning captured Jim Taylor, a 
young chief, tied him to a tree and shot him to death. This news caused the greatest 
confusion among the Indians, and it seemed for a time as if they were about to attack 



224 INDIAN WARS. 

General Lane's party. The General addressed the Indians, telling them that Owens 
who had violated the armistice was a bad man, and not one of his soldiers. He added 
considerable more of a sort to placate the Indians, and finally the matter of ' Jim's ' 
death was settled by the whites agreeing to pay damages therefor in shirts and blankets." 

The treaty of peace of September 10, 1855/ contained the following provisions: 
Article 1 defines the boundaries of the lands occupied by the Rogue River and 
related tribes. The principal geographical points mentioned as lying upon these boun- 
daries are, the mouth of Applegate creek, the summit of the Siskiyou mountains at 
Pilot Rock, the Snowy Butte (Mount Pitt), and a point near the intersection of the 
Oregon road near Jump-off-Joe creek. All Indians within these limits were to main- 
tain peace with the whites, restore stolen property, and deliver up any of their number 
who might infringe the articles of the treaty. The second article provides that the 
tribes should permanently reside on a reservation to be set apart. According to article 
three they were to surrender all fire-arms except fourteen pieces, which were reserved 
for hunting. According to article 4, when the Indians received pay for their surren- 
dered lands, a sum not exceeding $15,000 was to be set aside to pay for whatever dam- 
ages they had caused. By article 5, they were to forfeit their annuites if they again 
made war. In article 6 they agree to inform the agent if hostile tribes entered the reser- 
vation. 

A supplemental treaty regarding the sale of the Indians' lands, was entered into 
on the same day. By it they ceded to the United States government all their right to 
the lands lying within these boundaries : Commencing at a point on Rogue river 
below the mouth of Applegate creek, thence southerly to the divide between Applegate 
and Althouse creeks ; thence along the divide to the summit of the Siskiyou moun- 
tains ; thence easterly to Pilot Rock ; thence to the summit of Mount Pitt ; thence to 
Rogue river ; thence westerly to Jump-off- Joe creek ; thence to place of beginning. 

The Indians were to occupy temporarily a reservation on Evans' creek, west and 
north of Table Rock, until another residence was found for them. 

In consideration for the transfer of their rights, the agents agreed to pay the 
Indians sixty thousand dollars ; of which fifteen thousand were to be retained as pro- 
vided in the treaty of peace. The damages caused by the Indians were to be estimated 
by three disinterested persons. Five thousand dollars were to be expended in pur- 
chasing blankets, clothing, agricultural implements, and other desirable and necessary 
articles. The remaining forty thousand dollars were to be paid in sixteen annual 
payments of live stock, blankets, necessaries of life, etc. Three dwelling houses, one 
for each of the principal chiefs, were to be erected, at a cost of not more than five hun- 
dred dollars each. The remaining provisos relate to the non-molestation of the whites 
passing through the reservation ; to the referral of grievances to the resident Indian 
agent ; to the discovery of thefts, murders, etc. ; and to the ratification of the treaty by 
the president, at which time it would take effect. The treaty for the cession of lands 
bore the signatures of Joel Palmer, Samuel H. Culver, Joe Aps-er-ka-har, Sam To- 
qua-he-ar, Jim Ana-cha-ara, John, and Limpy. 

Here follow the names and organizations of those who took part in the war of 
1853. No apology is needed for inserting them. They are the names of men who 
gave their services for the defense of their fellow beings, and to many of whom 



Willi 




;;:. -^^asS^&fe 






WflUING-UTH-POflTLAND-OR. 



Masonic Temple, Ashland. 



INDIAN WARS. 225 

the thanks and gratitude of this later generation is due. It is a regrettable circum- 
stance that the muster-rolls of all the companies which were formed cannot be obtained. 
The missing ones are those of Terry's Crescent City Guards, Rhoades' Humbug Creek 
Volunteers, and Goodall's Yreka Volunteers. Of the latter a partial list is given from 
memory by their captain. 

Althouse Mounted Volunteers. — Mustered in August 24, 1853 ; discharged 
September 21, 1853 — Captain, Robert L.Williams; First Lieutenant, John W. Burke; 
Second Lieutenant, William Mendenhall ; Corporal, William T. Ross ; Privates, 
Isaac Auger, Alfred Allen, Michael Bush, James B. Bowers, Gabriel Cooper, Joseph 
Cooper, William Fountain, Paul Fairclo, James Jordan, John Makin, William A. 
Moore, William McMahon, William Mitchell, Peter H. Peveler, Thomas Phillips, 
Jackson Rader, Vinson S. Ricketts, Robert Shaw, Alex. St. Gilles, William Shelley, 
Christopher Shelley, Harry Spurgeon, John Spurgeon, William Shin, Z. A. Triplett, 
Christopher Taylor, Robert G. Worthington. 

Lameeick's Company. — Mustered August 7, 1853 ; discharged September 10, 
1853 — Captain, John K. Lamerick ; First Lieutenant, John W. Babcox ; Second 
Lieutenants, Anthony Little, William Hunter, Henry Green ; Sergeant, S. B. Fargo ; 
Corporal, John Swiuden ; Privates, Isaac Adams, G. H. Ambrose, Nicholas Belcher, 
John Benjamin, R. E. Bondevant, E. H. Blanchard, David Crockett, John Creighton, 
William Chase, William Crogey, Joseph Copeland, Vincent Davis, E. Downing, Wil- 
liam Ewing, T. E. Estes, C. C. Gall, S. Gall, J. F. Hedrick, John W. Hillman, 
George Hillman, I. A. Hull, John R. Harding, G. H. Hazlett, W. B. Howe, Robert 
Hill, D. C. Ingles, James T. Jones, A. J. Kane, Henry Klippel, John Lancaster, Law- 
rence LaPointe, Levi Libby, John Milligan, Roderick McLeod, Malcolm McKay, J. 
W. Patrick, Alonzo Price, A. Russell, Solomon Racier, William R. Rose, J. R. 
Reynolds, William M. Sevens, Peter Snelback, S. B. Sarles, S. R. Senor, William G. 
T' Vault, David Thompson, Gustaf Wilson, Thomas Wilson, J. B. Wagner, Charles 
Williams, T. B. Willard, H. K Winslow. 

Miller's Company. — Mustered in August 8, 1853; discharged November 2, 
1853. — Captain, John F. Miller; First Lieutenant, Burrell B. Griffin; Second Lieu- 
tenants, Abel George, Alfred Waterman; Sergeants, Claes Westfeldt, J. C. McFarland, 
William Hiatt, James Mattony; Corporals, A. J. Mattoon, Andrew Herron, James 
King, Payton W. Cook; "Farrier, William Hill; Privates, Benjamin Armstrong, Jesse 
Adams, Moses Adams, George Anderson, Thornton Anderson, Benjamin An tram, 
Richard Barker, Richard Benson, James Bailey, Henry Brown, Moses Bellinger, D. 
Bates, John Bland, David Brown, Daniel Carlysle, Daniel F. Counsel, David D. Cal- 
houn, Hugh C. Clawson, William Duke, Martin Elliott, Kela Farrington, Carter L. 
Fuller, Francis Garnett, Lewis D. Gibson, William M. Griffin, Thomas Gill, Thomas 
Guthrie, William Gee, John B. Hice, Lewis Hiatt, Jesse Hiatt, James Huggins, 
Charles B. Houser, David Hicks, Samuel Hicks, Abraham G. Hedden, Martin Hoover, 
N. Hulz, Thomas Inman, Charles Johnson, William Johnson, David C. Jamison, 
Thomas B. Jackson, Lycurgus Jackson, Isham P. Jones, J. T. Jones, John Lay ton, 
George Ludlow, Hugh Lyle, Jacob Long, Elijah Leasure, William Lippard, William 
P. Miller, Isaac Miller, John S. Miller, Green Matthews, William J. Morrison, Samuel 
Moore, John T. Moxley, John Meader, Elijah McCall,. John McCombs, David McRae, 

30 



226 INDIAN WARS. 

Andrew McNeal, Thomas McF. Patton, Cornelius Napp, Joshua Noland, John Orton, 
John Osborne, Henry Patterson, Sylvester Pease, Robert Parker, R. Pearce, Alonzo 
Pattee, Christian Peterson, David Redpath, Abraham Robinson, Josiah Register, E. 
Ransom, Edward Smith, James F. Stewart, John Shorkman, Enoch Springer, William 
M. Shaffer, James Stephens, Oscar T. Sandford, Thomas I. Sutton, John Thurber, 
Henry C. Turner, James Toabeler, Titus B. Willard, J. Wilkes, C. L. Wilcox, Alex- 
ander Williamson, Charles Wright, Charles Wright (Indian), Washington Waters, J. 
Willis, Elijah Williams, Samuel Williams, Samuel Wilkes. 

Halstead Mounted Volunteers. — Mustered in August 21, 1853; discharged 
September 14, 1853 — Captain, Elias A. Owens; First Lieutenants, Benjamin Halstead, 
Thomas Frizzell ; Second Lieutenant, Silas Crandle; Sergeant, William B. Lewis; Pri- 
vates, A. Allen, Sherlock M. Abrams, Charles Bushman, N. C. Boatman, Samuel S. 
Bowden, Louis Dernois, Joseph Despar, Robt. M. Denton, Jas. P. Frizzell, John FrizzelL 
John Green, Silas R. Howe, William S. Hamock, Albert P. Hodges, William Johnson, • 
Henry Kelly, William King, James Lafferty, John Lynch, Alexander McCloy, James 
Mungo, J. W. Pickett, Robert L. Smith, David Sexton, Joseph Umpqua. 

Yreka Volunteers. — Mustered August 11 ; discharged Captain, Jas. P- 

Goodall; First Lieutenant, Simeon Ely; Second Lieutenants, Philyar A. Bodwell, Geo. 
W. Tyler ; Sergeants, John W. Fairchild, Joseph G. Barber, James Thomas, Frank 
Perry; Corporal, Mike Brown ; Privates, John Alban, Kilian Albert, Charles Abbe, 
Asa Colburn, Carl Vogt, William Neff, Isham P. Keith, Alfred Douglass, John Scar- 
borough, James Bradley, James Bruce, John W. Crowell, Philip Edwards, William 

Terrill, McGonigle, Christopher Shack, Henry Flesher, William Lewis, Joseph 

Gaunyau, Robert Neal, James Carroll, Charles A. Johnson, James T. Hurd, Albert 
M. Price, John W. Cawood, Charles Lacey, D. V. Ellington, George Charles, J. D. 
Carly. 

Nesmith's Company. — Eulisted in the Willamette valley, in compliance with the 
Governor's proclamation — Captain, J. W. Nesmith; First Lieutenant, L. F. Grover; 
Second Lieutenant, W. K. Beale; Surgeon, J. D. McCurdy; Sergeant, J. M. Crooks; 
Privates, Samuel B. Gregg, Ben. McCormack, Jas. Gay, H. S. Young, James Pritchett, 
R. Woodfin, Francis A. Haynes, S. T. Burch, J. Fortune, G. H. McQueen, F. M. P. 
Goff, W. E. Clark, J. W. Jones, R. C. Hague, J. A. Millard, Samuel E. Darnes, Wm. 
Beale, Samuel Abbott, Jas. S. Rose, James M. Baldwin, Z. Griffin, J. Jones, Thos. 
W. Beale, A. A. Engles, James Stanley, George W. Cacly, John McAllister, R. C. 
Breeding, N. F. Herren, John Ragsdale, David Kirkpatrick, Wilson Blake, Horace 
Dougherty, James Daniel, J. M. Case, J. W. Toms. 

Hospital Attaches. — In the military hospital at Jacksonville, in 1853, E. H. 
Cleavland, as surgeon and medical director, was in charge, assisted by eleven attaches 
— R. A. Caldwell, C. Davenport, Thomas Gregory, W. W. Hanway, George Hillman, 
J. B. Hice, John Inman, James S. Lowery, Francis Peirce, J. B. Shepley, and B. W. 
Woodruff. These men served various terms, ranging from sixteen to sixty-three days, 
for which they received pay at the rate of five dollars per day and rations. 

List of Killed and Wounded. — On Applegate creek, August 8, George 
Anderson wounded, and on the following day B. B. Griffin, first lieutenant in the 
same company (Miller's) , wounded, and Francis Garnett, private, killed ; on August 






INDIAN WARS. 227 

10, while on detached service, John R. Harding and William R. Rose, privates, 
Lamerick's company, killed; on August 17, at Little Meadows, Sergeant Frank Perry 
and Privates Asa Col burn, Alfred Douglass, Isharn P. Keith, William Neff and L. 
Stockting killed or mortally wounded, and First Lieutenant Simeon Ely and Privates 
Zebulon Sheets, John Alban and James Carroll severely wounded, all belonging to 
Goodall's company; on the twenty -fourth of August, at Battle creek, Private Thomas 
Hays of Rhoades' company, and Henry Flesher and Charles Abbe of Goodall's com- 
pany were wounded, the latter dying of his wounds on the second of September, and 
John Scarborough, private of Goodall's company, was killed; August 28, at Long's 
Ferry, First Lieutenant Thomas Frizzell and Private James Mungo (Indian), were 
killed in battle; September 14, Thomas Phillips, private in Williams' company, was 
killed by the Indians on Applegate creek; on October 4 occurred the last casualty of 
the war, in the wounding with arrows of Private William Duke, of Miller's company. 

When General Lane and his officers made the treaty with Joe and his people, 
there were many persons who in a subdued manner opposed it, and prognosticated its 
utter failure. These people were of the sort who in the earlier days of August had 
said: "Hang the Indian children; they will grow up to be our enemies." They 
urged a war of extermination; humanity's dictates were too refined to be applied to 
cases wherein Indians were concerned. This class, while they affected to deplore the 
horrible massacres of whites, still did their utmost to rouse the Indians to other deeds 
of like savagery, by inflicting on them unprovoked acts which really brave and merci- 
ful people abhor. It is a fact that after the Lane treaty was signed, its provisions were 
repeatedly broken by whites, who deliberately murdered unsuspecting and helpless 
Indians. Chief Joe, whom none of his white contemporaries suspected of falsehood, 
said at the Lane peace conference that he did not begin war nor seek to retaliate until 
fourteen of his tribe had been shot or hung by the whites. Least these remarks should 
be misunderstood, the reader is informed that they apply only to that irresponsible ele- 
ment in the population which had but little respect for law and justice, and not to that 
great body of respectable and law abiding citizens who cast their lot in Southern 
Oregon, and by thirty years of industry have made it what it is to-day. 

During the armistice and subsequent to the signing of the treaty, the class of ex- 
terminators alluded to kept up their efforts to kill off as many Indians as they could, 
regardless of any moral restriction whatever. Revenge was the motto, and these men 
lived up to it. Not half of the outrages which were perpetrated on Indians were ever 
heard of through newspapers; yet there are the accounts of several, and these are of a 
most cold-blooded description. We will allude lightly to a few examples. Captain 
Bob Williams, stationed with his company on the banks of Rogue river, during the 
armistice was not too brave and magnanimous to attempt to kill two children, the sons 
of Chief Joe; but General Lane with the utmost haste ordered his removal from the 
locality to another, where there would be less opportunity for the exercise of his pro- 
pensities. We have the evidence of no less an authority than Judge Deady to prove 
that a fearful outrage was perpetrated at Grave creek after the armistice was agreed 
upon. He writes : "At Grave creek I stopped to feed my horse and get something 
to eat. There was a house there, called the 'Bates House,' after the man who kept it. 
It was a rough, wooden structure without a floor, and had an immense clapboard fun- 



228 INDIAN AVARS. 

nel at one end, which served as a chimney. There was no house or settlement within 
ten or twelve miles or more of it. There I found Captain J. K. Lamerick in com- 
mand of a company of volunteers. It seems he had been sent there by General Lane 
after the fight at Battle creek, on account of the murder of some Indians there, of 
which he and others gave me the following account : 

Bates and some others had induced a small party of peaceable Indians who be- 
longed in that vicinity to enter into an engagement to remain at peace with the whites 
during the war which was going on at some distance from them, and by way of ratifi- 
cation to this treaty, invited them to partake of a feast in an unoccupied log house just 
across the road from the 'Bates House;' and while they were partaking, unarmed, of 
this proffered hospitality, the door was suddenly fastened upon them, and they were 
deliberately shot down through the cracks between the logs by their treacherous hosts. 
Near by, and probably a quarter of a mile this side of the creek, I was shown a large, 
round hole into which the bodies of these murdered Indians had been unceremoniously 
tumbled. I did not see them, for they were covered with fresh earth." 

Some miners from Sailor Diggings attacked a rancheria on Illinois river or Deer 
creek, as the accounts go, and killed two of the seven male Indians present. The 
others hastily seized their bows and arrows, and began a lively resistance. Two white 
men were hit, which so discouraged the others that they ran away. The act of aggres- 
sion was severely denounced by other people, and the term "desperado" was applied 
to the perpetrators. Agent Culver was sent for to investigate matters, but it is not 
known that the guilty parties were ever brought to justice ; indeed, there is a certain 
presumption that they were not. 

An incident bearing somewhat upon this question is worthy of mention, though 
it occurred somewhat outside of the region supposed to be covered by the Lane treaty. 
On January 28, 1854, a small j3arty of armed men from the Randolph mines, in Coos 
county, went to a rancheria, attacked the Indians and killed fifteen, as far as is known, 
without provocation. Two squaws were shot dead, one with her babe in her arms. 
The next day the miners passed a law providing that whosoever should sell or give any 
gun, rifle or jristol to Indians, should for the first offense receive thirty-nine lashes, and 
for the second offense should suffer death. Meeting considerable adverse criticism for 
their attack upon the helpless and unarmed creatures at the rancheria, these men next 
proceeded to hold a meeting and pass resolutions, one maintaining that the Indians at 
the time were on the eve of an outbreak, and another congratulating themselves on 
their bravery ! The whole absurd proceedings are contained in a letter written by one 
of the assailants to the Oregon Statesman of contemporary date, and in the report of the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs for 1854, within which may be found letters from F. M. 
Smith, agent at Port Orford. and G. H. Abbott, leader of the attacking force of miners. 

It does not require the thorough investigation to which the records of these events 
have been subjected by the writer, to determine conclusively that while the whites as a 
class were content with the treaty and obedient to its provisos, there was a considerable 
minority who lost no opportunity to manifest their contempt of the instrument and 
their disregard of its obligations. Nor were the Indians idle. As soon as the report 
of the killings at Grave creek, at Applegate and other places, had been bruited abroad, 
and the natives had become convinced that they were individually in as much danger 



3S 




INDIAN WARS. 2^9 

as before the treaty, they began reprisals. They committed atrocities that were not 
exceeded in bloodthirstiness by those at whom they were aimed. A few days after the 
battle of Evans' creek Thomas Frizzell and Mungo were murdered by Indians on Rogue 
river, below Vannoy's. It seems that Frizzell owned a ferry in that locality, which 
he was constrained to leave at the commencement of hostilities. He joined Owens' 
company, of which he was chosen first lieutenant. On the day mentioned, he went 
home to examine into the condition of things, being accompanied by Mungo, a private 
of his company. On returning they arrived within two miles of Vannoy's, when they 
were fired on by concealed Indians, and Frizzell was instantly killed. Mungo, 
wounded, took refuge in a thicket and with his rifle kept the enemy at. bay for hours 
until a relief party came to his aid. He was carried to Vannoy's, but died on arriving 
there. These men were said to have been killed in retaliation for the massacre of the 
Indians at Bates' house, but this assertion, of course, does not admit of proof. The 
same day (August twenty-eighth), the savages burned the house of Raymond, at Jump- 
off-Joe creek, as well as two others in the vicinity. 

These disturbances were chiefly confined to Josephine county and the western part 
of Jackson county ; or to speak more specifically, to the Grave creek, Applegate creek, 
Illinois river and Althouse creek country. 

About the twelfth of September, 1853, there occurred a catastrophe of some note 
several miles below Deer creek bar. Two prospectors, Tedford and Rouse, were 
attacked by Illinois Indians, peaceable until that time, and both injured very severely. 
Rouse was cut in the face, and Tedford was shot in the left arm, shattering the bone. 
The men were alone at the time, but were speedily found by neighboring miners and 
carried to a place of safety. Tedford's injuries were mortal ; he died within a week. 
This, and some slighter injuries perpetrated the same day on other parties, were the 
first hostile acts of the Illinois Indians, who until then had shown a tolerably peaceful 
disposition. This was in the absence of nearly all the fighting portion of the white 
community, who were with Captain Williams on the Rogue river. On their return a 
party was made up to pursue certain Indians who had stolen some property from the 
Hunter brothers, including quite a number of mules. The thieves were followed for 
three days, over rough mountains, across creeks and through jungles, and at last 
traced to an Indian village on Illinois river. This was attacked by the pursuers, and 
several Indians were killed; but the whites had ultimately to retire,- Alex. Watts 
being slightly wounded in the attack. The regular troops shortly after occupied this 
village, after killing several of its inhabitants and driving the rest away. On their 
return to headquarters the Indians followed them, and killed Sergeant Day, wounded 
Private King, and re-took sixteen stolen animals. Lieutenants Radford and Carter 
were in charge of the expedition, having been sent by Captain Smith, on the seven- 
teenth of October, from Fort Lane, and the action took place on the twenty-fourth of 
the same month. It has always been supposed that the malcontents spoken of were 
Coast Indians, from the vicinity of Chetco. At any rate they were no triflers, as the 
whites found to their cost. On the twenty-sixth the miners again assembled, to the 
number of thirty-five, to make another descent upon the same camp, when the Indians' 
scouts discovered them and received them with unexpected warmth. William Hunter 
was wounded by three bullets, not seriously, and the party returned to their respective 



230 INDIAN WARS. 

homes without carrying out their projected annihilation of the hostile camp. Michael 
Bushey was of the number, and through his exertions a treaty of peace and amity was 
entered into between the miners and the Indians of that rancheria. The Indians ob- 
served the treaty faithfully enough, but the whites were not so honorable. It has been 
mentioned how certain whites from Sailor Diggings attempted to " make good Indians" 
of seven " bucks" at a certain rancheria, but were driven off ignominiously. These 
Indians were the survivors of those who slew Sergeant Day, and foiled Bushey and 
his party. They were now living in quietness on Deer creek, when attacked by the 
party from Sailor Diggings, who were said to have numbered twenty. Again Bushey, 
with Alex. Watts, patched up a treaty with them which existed until 1855, when cer- 
tain events on the lower Klamath river, in which these Indians were implicated, 
sundered those pleasant relations. 

On Apj:>legate creek, September 2, four houses were burned by Indians, and their 
contents destroyed. At about the same date, or possibly a little later, a pack-train 
coming from Crescent City was fired upon and the three Mexicans who drove, were 
wounded, three mules were killed and all the merchandise captured by Indians. This 
closes the list of outrages perpetrated in that part of the country subsequent to the 
treaty, and the subject now leads us to consider the state of affairs on Rogue river. 

General Lane left for the north on or about October, 1853. But before taking leave 
of the people of the valley, he made a visit to Tipsu Tyee, hoping in the interests of 
peace, to induce that much feared warrior to join the Rogue River chieftains in amity 
to the whites. Tipsu had not made himself felt in the recent hostilities probably for 
reasons already set forth, but as if still further to signalize his independence of both 
white and Indian influence, he sent word to Jacksonville that he did not recognize the 
peace of September 10, and should not by any means subscribe to its terms. As for 
Sam, Joe, George, Limpy and the rest, they might do as they chose ; he was upon his 
own land, came upon it first, and should remain upon it. This message presented a 
new difficulty. It seemed to the people and to the Indian agents alike, that Tipsu Tyee 
needed to be put down. His outbreak of insolence ought to be punished. But to pun- 
ish such an Indian as the wily old Tyee was an undertaking of considerable difficulty > 
and very few were ready to attempt it. The chief staid in his lair, and General Lane, 
who to great fighting qualities added a heart that was capable of feeling for even the 
most savage of God's creatures, paid him a visit in the interests of peace and humanity. 
Accompanied by two men only, he went into the mountains, found the chief, and 
entered upon an agreement with him by which the rights of the settlers were to be 
respected and grievances to be settled satisfactorily; and having taken leave of his host, 
returned safely from a journey which most men regarded as infinitely dangerous. 

The different companies (Lamerick's, Miller's, Owens', Goodall's, Rhodes', Wil- 
liams', Terry's and Fowler's) were mustered out, with the exception of Miller's, during 
the early days of September, soon after the close of disturbances, and sent home. Peo- 
ple were now returning to their customary occupations, generally well pleased with the 
result of the war and hoping that no more "unpleasantness" might supervene, as 
considerabl force of regular troops had arrived, and Colonel Wright, with four com- 
panies from Benicia and Fort Reading, was daily expected. Captain Alden, convales- 
cent, set out for Fort Jones, about the time that the military authorities resolved upon 



INDIAN WARS. 231 

founding a permanent fortified camp near Table Rock. The Indians were safely domi- 
ciled near that locality, their reservation extending north and west of those prominent 
and celebrated land marks. Their position was a good one and to their liking. Camas 
and ip-a roots grew there in profusion; salmon in their season swarmed in the river, 
game of all kinds was abundant in the neighboring mountains. Besides, it was in the 
laud of their nativity; and though nominally confined to the narrow limits of a com- 
paratively small tract, they were not perceptibly worse off than before. Opposite their 
home, the new military post reared its imposing front. Appropriately named Fort 
Lane, it was commodiously and even handsomely built, and in a manner well adapted 
to the uses of such a post. A stockade enclosed quite a spacious area in which was a 
parade ground, together with barracks for private soldiers, houses for officers, an armory? 
hospital, and other necessary buildings, all built of logs. It continued to be the head- 
quarters of the military forces in this region for three years ; at the end of the last 
Indian war being abandoned. A quarter of a century has seen the old fort fall into 
ruins, and to-day scarcely a vestige of what was once a lively encampment remains. 
The officers and men Avho guarded its wooden ramparts are scattered and many of them 
have found a soldier's grave. Some of them died fighting for the flag that waved above 
the old fort; others forsaking that flag, espoused the "Lost Cause" and were lost with it. 

Very soon after the construction of the military post was resolved upon, a circum- 
stance occurred which ranks as one of the most important, and at the same time singu- 
lar, that we have to narrate. This was the murder of James C. Kyle, on the sixth of 
October, 1853, by Indians from the Table Rock reservation. This sad affair took 
place within two miles of Fort Lane, at a time when the settlers were congratulating 
themselves that Indian difficulties were at an end. Kyle was a merchant of Jackson- 
ville, partner of Wills whose untimely and cruel death has been recorded. A rigid 
examination and investigation of the homicide proved that it was committed by indi- 
viduals from the reservation, and the chiefs were called upon to surrender the criminals 
in compliance with the terms of the treaty. They did so ; and two Indians, George 
and Tom, were handed over to the proper authorities, as the murderers of Kyle, while 
Indian Thompson, tilicum of the same tribe, who has been previously mentioned, 
was surrendered as the murderer of Edwards. Like Thompson, the other two suspects 
were tried before Judge McFadden of the United States circuit court, at Jacksonville, 
in February, 1854. They -were found guilty, and hanged two days later. 

At the close of the Evans' creek campaign, General Lane, with commendable 
humanity and sagacity, remembering the helpless condition of the incoming migra- 
tion of the season, dispatched a force of mounted men, being Miller's company, well 
armed and provisioned, to operate against the Indians in the region where such sicken- 
ing butcheries were perpetrated the year before, and where Ben Wright and Captain 
Ross had done such good service in aweing the savages and teaching them lessons of 
the white man's vengeance. Captain Miller proceeded thence with his men and 
throughout the season did excellent service in scouting, fighting those Indians who 
showed signs of hostility, and in piloting trains to their destination. They left Jack- 
sonville September twelfth, and returning at the close of their campaign, were dis- 
charged from service on the second of November. Their total term of service was 
about three months. The only casualties happening to them while on the emigrant 



232 INDIAN WARS. 

trail was the wounding of Private William Duke by Indians at Goose lake, October 
fourth, and of Private Watt, at another time and place. Captain Miller's command 
on this expedition consisted of 115 men. 

These occurrences complete the history of Indian difficulties for the year, and 
together constitute the natural termination of what is known as the "War of 1853." 
There is a short note to be appended relating to the indebtedness which grew out of 
the war. This was assumed by the United States; and however, the people of South- 
ern Oregon might grumble — and grumble they did — at the attitude of the govern- 
ment and its army toward the settlers and the Indians, there was no grumbling heard 
concerning the assumption of the debt by the government, nor at the way in which 
that debt was paid. The muster-rolls and accounts of all the eight companies and 
General Lane's staff (the General refused to accept compensation for himself), were 
made out and adjusted by Captain Goodall, as inspecting and mustering officer, acting 
under orders from General Lane, at the close of the war; and these papers were 
forwarded to Captain Alden at Washington, and being presented to congress were 
promptly acted upon at the instance of that officer and General Lane, in his capacity 
as delegate to congress from Oregon Territory. Major Alvord, paymaster of the 
United States army, under orders from the secretary of war, paid off the volunteers, 
in coin, at Jacksonville and Yreka, in June and July, 1855. The commissary and 
quartermaster accounts were at the same time sent in draft to Governor Curry, and by 
him disbursed to the proper creditors. The total cost to the United States was about 
$285,000. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



EVENTS OF 1854. 

A Year of Comparative Peace — Tipsu Tyee— His Career — The Cave Fight — Death of Tipsu — The Cotton- 
wood War — Walker's Expedition — His Muster-roll — Fight at Warner Rock— Return to Jacksonville — 
Murder of Phillips. 

Eighteen hundred and fifty-four was a year of peace for most of the Rogue River 
tribe, safely gathered on their reservation. The military force at Fort Lane kept in 
awe such roving vagabond savages as desired or might be led to commit outrages, and 
also such whites as, not having the fear of the law before their eyes, might seek to 
interfere with the natives. This latter class, numerous in most frontier countries, was 
doubly troublesome in Southern Oregon. There were grasping, avaricious men who 
seemed to begrudge the poor savages the very air they breathed. The reservation, 
some would say, is too good for them; it ought to be thrown open to settlement by 
whites. This class, too, were dissatisfied with the annuity that was promised the 



INDIAN WARS. 233 

Indians. Nothing in our government's Indian policy commended itself to such men, 
unless it was the policy of referring the least of the Indians' faults to the stern arbit- 
rament of bullets, while permitting white men to ride rough-shod over them, regard- 
less of right or justice. 

Tipsu Tyee, however, did not join his brother chiefs in their friendly attitude 
toward the whites, but on the contrary entered systematically upon a career of stealthy 
warfare which was manifested in attacks on quite a number of parties on and near the 
Siskiyou mountains. He effectually terrorized a tract of country reaching from Ash- 
land to beyond the Klamath, and during many months made unexpected descents upon 
white settlements, or robbed towns, with almost entire impunity. The first notable 
outrage was the affair near Ashland on August 17, 1853. The visit of General Lane 
to Tipsu's headquarters would appear to have been abortive, for at various times we 
find the chief active against the whites. The principal affair of the season was the 
fight near Cottonwood, resulting in the death of Hiram Hulen, John Clark, John 
Oldfield, and Wesley Mayden, who were killed in January, 1854, on the road between 
Jacksonville and Yreka, by Shasta Indians. This affair had a curious origin. A num- 
ber of " squaw men" were living along the Klamath and about Cottonwood in the 
winter of 1853-4, and the women of two of these — Tom Ward and Bill Chance — 
deserted them and returned to their kindred, who were members of Tyee Bill's band 
of Shastas, dwelling in a large cave on the north bank of the Klamath, some twenty 
miles above Cottonwood. The squaw men proceeded after them, but on reaching the 
cave were ordered to leave. They immediately went to Cottonwood and falsely reported 
that a large number of stolen horses were in the possession of these Indians, when a 
company of men was raised to go and recover the animals. They went, and a fight 
ensuing, the four above mentioned were killed, and the rest driven away. The indig- 
nation in Cottonwood was great ; the deceased were well known citizens, and the people 
were not aware how they had been duped by the squaw men. Notice of the difficulty 
was sent to Captain Judah, commanding at Fort Jones, and he came up with a detach- 
ment of troops. A company of volunteers was raised at Cottonwood, commanded by 
R. C. Geiger, with James Lemmon as lieutenant. Their first act was to bury the bodies 
of Hulen and his friends, who served to start the new cemetery at Cottonwood, and 
were all buried in one grave. The regulars and volunteers went then to the cave, and 
laid siege to it, until Captain Geiger was killed by a bullet in his brain, from incau- 
tiously exposing himself. This happened on the twenty-sixth of January. On the 
same day Captain Smith arrived from Fort Lane with a detachment of regulars, and a 
mountain howitzer, and being the senior military officer, took command of the forces. 
He advanced to the vicinity of the cave and opened fire upon the mouth of it with 
his howitzer, but ineffectually except as to endangering the volunteers who were sta- 
tioned near the Indians' den. An old trapper, Robinson by name, now arrived and 
told Captain Smith the origin of the difficulty. The officer suspended the bombard- 
ment and went to the cave accompanied by two men only, and conversed with Tyee 
Bill, who confirmed tbe trapper's story. Words, it was said, had no power to describe 
the officer's indignation. Exasperated at the idea of a military force belonging to the 
United States being engaged in a dispute concerning the possession of squaws, he took 
his departure with his command in great anger. The inhabitants of Cottonwood 

31 



234 INDIAN WARS. 

and of all the surrounding country were displeased with this action, and for years the 
people and press of the border refused to be placated. 

Bill's band remained at the cave but made no hostile demonstration. On the 
twelfth of May a Shasta named Joe, made a felonious assault on a white woman, but 
was driven away by the approach of some men. He was pursued and fled to the cave. 
Lieutenant J. C. Bonnycastle, then in charge of Fort Jones, set out for the cave to com- 
pel his surrender, but halting on Willow creek, was informed of the attack by Tipsu 
Tyee on Gage and Clymer's pack-train on Siskiyou mountain wherein David Gage was 
killed and the mules stolen. The next day Lieutenant Bonnycastle and command set 
out for the scene of the last outrage, and on arriving they found that the murder had 
been committed by six Indians, of whom four had departed toward the cave. The 
detachment immediately followed, and reaching that place, they found that the Indians 
they were in pursuit of had arrived there, and they were none other than Tipsu Tyee, 
his son, and son-in-law, and another member of their band. But justice had overtaken 
the notorious old creature at last, for Bill and his party had fallen upon the four and 
killed them just before the troops arrived, being incited thereto by a desire to win the 
friendship of the whites, to whom they knew Tipsu to be a bitter enemy. They scalped 
the dead chief and sent that ghastly trophy to the office of Judge Roseborough in Yreka 
where it was seen by that gentleman, as he informed the writer. Lieutenant Bonny- 
castle and Captain Goodall also saw the scalp, and not feeling perfectly assured of its 
identity, went to the cave and twice exhumed the body, finding satisfactory evidence 
that it was the old Tyee and none other. Tipsu, is described by Colonel Ross and 
others who knew him as a tall and powerful man, wearing a beard or goatee which was 
tinged with gray. He had high cheek bones and a distinctively Indian appearance, 
but was a fine looking brave. "He was a quiet, reserved man, who never went among 
white people, when he could avoid it, but staid almost constantly in the hills. He never 
begged, but if provisions or other gifts were offered, he would allow his squaws to 
receive them." 

The end of the Cottonwood affair is not vet told. The Shastas in the cave were 

*j 

visited by several individuals, among them Lieutenant Bonnycastle, Judge Steele, 
Judge Boseborough, special Indian agent ; old Tolo chief of the Yreka Shastas and a 
friend of the whites ; Captain Goodall and others, and persuaded to set out for Fort 
Jones, where they were to be kept. On arriving at Cottonwood creek on June 24, they 
were fired upon by a gang of the miners of that vicinity, and Chief Bill was killed, 
and several others wounded. The whites lost one man, Thomas C. McKamey. The 
Indians finally got securely on the Fort Jones reservation. This is the extent of our 
chronicles concerning the Cave Shastas, and they drift now out of our story. 

The remaining incidents of 1854, are connected with the expedition of Captain 
Jesse Walker to assist the immigrants of that year through the dangerous grounds 
infested by the Modocs and other hostile tribes who had been punished by the previous 
expeditions of Captain Ross, Ben Wright and Captain Miller. Under date of July 17, 
1854, Governor Davis addressed Colonel John Ross, authorizing him by virtue of his 
office as colonel in the Oregon militia, to call into service a company of volunteers to 
protect the immigration and particularly to suppress the Modocs, Piutes, and other 
disaffected aborigines. Colonel Ross accordingly made proclamation on the third of 



INDIAN WARS. 235 

August following, inviting enlistments for the term of three months. Borne sixty or 
seventy men responded, whose names, with the officers they elected, are annexed : 
Captain, Jesse Walker ; Lieutenants, C Westfeldt, Isaac Miller; Sergeants, William 
G.Hill, B. E. Miller, Andrew J. Long; Privates, Benj. Antum, John Bormonler, 
David Breen, William Bybee, T. C. Banning, O. C. Beeson, Newton Ball, J. H. Clifton, 

E. S. A. Caldwell, Hugh C. Clauson, J. J. Coffer, WAV. Cose, David Dorsey, Henry C. 
Eldridge, W. M.D. Foster, T. Y. Henderson, Jesse Huggens, J. B.Henit, J. M. Holloway, 
J.H. Hoffman, James Hathaway, John Head, John Halleck, John Hawkins, David W. 
Houston. Samuel Hink, William H. Jaquette, Eli Judd, J. P. Jones, L. W. Jones, John 

F. Linden, Peter Mowry, John Martin, Greenville Matthews, John M. Malone, B. 
MeDaniel, James McLinden, John Pritchett, J. B. Patterson, Warren Pratt, Sylvester 
Pase, J. A. Pinney, George Bitchy, W. M. Eise, E, M. Eobertson, E. A. Eice, Thomas 
Swank, Seth Sackett, J. E. Smith, N. D. Schooler, John Smith, John Shookman, 
Silas E. Smith, Marion Snow, Yincent Tullis, John Thompson, David Thompson, 
Peter H. Yanslyke, Samuel Wilks, Lafayette Witt, Squire Williams, Elijah Walker, 
George W. Wilson, M. Wolverton, James Wilks, Thomas P. Walker, James W. 
Walker, H. Wright. 

Colonel Boss' instructions to the officers before their departure, were to proceed 
immediately to some suitable point near Clear lake, in the vicinity of Bloody Point, 
and protect the trains. These instructions concluded: "Your treatment of the 
Indians must in a great measure be left to your own discretion. If possible, cultivate 
their friendship; but, if necessary for the safety of the lives and property of the immi- 
gration, whip and drive them from the road." Simultaneously with their starting, a 
small party of Yreka people also set out with the same object. These Avere only 
fifteen in number, but included, also, some very experienced Indian fighters. While 
traveling along the north shore of Tule lake, they were greeted by a shower of arrows 
from the titles. They retired to await the Oregon company. When Captain Walker 
arrived, he sent forty men of his company with five Californians to attack the Indian 
village, which was situated in the marsh three hundred yards from where the attack 
had been made. This was destroyed without resistance, and all the men returned to 
camp at the mouth of the Lost river. The permanent rendezvous was made at Clear 
lake; and here both companies established their headquarters. Lieutenant Westfeldt, 
with a mixed detachment of Oregonians and Californians, went eastward on the trail 
as far as the big bend of the Humboldt, to meet the coming immigrants. Trains were 
made up of the scattered wagons, and being furnished with small escorts, were sent on 
westward. The Californians soon returning home, Captain Walker set out to punish 
the Piutes, who had stolen stock from the immigrants. On October third he started with 
sixteen men, traveling northward from Goose lake, when meeting a band of Indians, 
he chased them forty miles, coming the second day upon them where they were forti- 
fied on the top of an immense rock, named by him Warner's rock, in remembrance of 
Captain Warner, killed there in 1849. The small party made a furious attack upon 
the stronghold, but was repulsed with one man, John Low, wounded. Eeturning to 
Goose lake, they met and killed two Indians. Setting out again with twenty-five men, 
the determined captain again headed for Warner's rock, and by traveling in the night, 
reached it without being suspected by the savages, who, it was found, had gone down 






236 INDIAN WAES. 

from the rock, and were living on the bank of a creek. The men rode up to the camp, 
and formed a semi-circle about it. At daydreak they began firing, and drove the 
Indians pell-mell into the brush, killing many. The only white man injured was 
Sergeant William Hill, who was severely wounded in the arm and cheek by a bullet 
from the gun of one of his companions. Returning now to Goose lake and then home- 
ward, they were mustered out of service at Jacksonville on November 6, 1854. 

Before closing this account of the events of 1854, there is mention to be made of 

two murders committed by Indians, the one of Stewart, an immigrant, while 

proceeding westward on the wagon trail, in September; the other that of Edward 
Phillips. The latter homicide occurred on the Applegate, about the middle of April. 
It was supposed to have been the deed of certain Indians residing thereabouts, but 
which was laid to the charge of the tribe on Rogue river. Captain Smith detailed a 
detachment to inquire into the matter, whose commanding officer reported that the 
man had been killed in his own cabin, and evidently for the purpose of robbery, as his 
gun, ammunition and tools had been taken. 

As we have seen, the greater part of the difficulties which occurred during the 
year 1854, were outside of the Rogue river valley, but they were still near enough to 
keep a portion of its inhabitants in a state of alarm. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1855-6. 

Character of the Events of 1855 — Public Opinion — Situation of the Indians — The Speculative Class — Murder of 
Hill — Of Philpot — Of Dyer and McCue — The Humbug War — Invasion of Jackson County — Resolutions — 
The Invaders Retire — Death of Keene— Murder of Fields and Cunningham — Reflections — The Lupton 
Affair. 

The latter portion of the history of Southern Oregon's Indian wars possesses a 
peculiar distinction. It describes exclusively the strong^ struggles of a single tribe 
against extermination ; it tells their slow and gradual yielding, and finally the last act 
of their existence which bears interest to us ; namely, their exile from the land of 
their birth. The subject which we took up lightly at the year 1827 has assumed a 
weightier character. Year by year the irrepressible conflict of races has taken on 
more alarming symptoms. The unavoidable termination as it approached, bore to the 
people a more serious import. We can imagine the situation as after a lapse of nearly 
three decades we philosophize upon the subject. The Indians toward the end of 1855 
are growing restless, even desperate. The have long felt and now recognize the tight- 
ening bands of an adverse civilization strangling them. The white men who came 



■m r - • 



a o 

?» a 

c_ i— 

S l 
CO Z 

2 a 

o 2 rn 

co a r- 

3 *5 
SBl 

— m 

2 H 

o!f 

2 a 

-n 

" r 3 

-C3 

C~3 

P" 

m 

i— 
r- 
> 
Z 




INDIAN WARS. 237 

with fair promises, who brought trifling presents, and who broke their words as twigs 
are broken, outnumbered them by far. In the minds of the whites distrust increases. 
There has also crept in a new element and an influential one. Speculative gentlemen 
mused upon the profits of an Indian war, and took note how surely government reim- 
bursed the contractors, the packers, the soldiers, of previous wars. Being without 
other means of accumulating wealth, Avhy should they not keep an eye open to the 
chance of a war against the Indians. "A good crop pays well, but a good lively cam- 
paign is vastly more lucrative." These few schemers were ready to take advantage of 
a war, and doubly ready with their little bills ; bills that the government found so 
exhorbitant that it took alarm — imagined a grand conspiracy to bring on a war and by 
such means to defraud the treasury ; and, finally, would pay no bills, not even those 
of honest volunteers who had periled life and limb in the country's need. Years after, 
there came J. Ross Browne, as treasury agent, who looked into the matter and found 
therein nothing but the traces of shrewd contractors and unscrupulous purveyors, and 
he bore evidence to the honesty and uprightness of the people, and to the legitimacy 
of the war. But this is a digression from our topic. The events of 1855 are easily 
susceptible of arrangement in historical form. Those which precede the beginning of 
hostilities (which took place October eighth), we are enabled to arrange in three series 
with reference to their locality, date of occurrence, and cause. 

We are informed that on May 8, 1855, Hill .was attacked and killed on 

Indian creek, in Siskiyou county, California. Primarily this information is obtained 
from the official list of white persons killed by Indians, referred to as the work of a 
legislative committee. The next entry is to the effect that " Jerome Dyar and Daniel 
McKew" were killed on the first of June, on the road from Jacksonville to the Illinois 
valley, and that, as in the former case, the killing was done by Rogue River Indians. 
On June second, says the report, Philpot was killed by the same Indians, in Deer 
creek valley. These constitute a chain of events to which particular attention should 
be paid in order to ascertain the comparative trustworthiness of the publication quoted 
from. 

From a careful comparison of accounts, oral as well as printed, it appears that a 
party of Illinois Indians, belonging possibly to Limpy's band, but more likely being 
the remnant of those active and formidable savages who so boldly resisted the attacks 
both of the regulars and the miners, as described in foregoing pages, went over to the 
Klamath river about Happy Camp, and robbed some miners' cabins, and then proceed- 
ing to Indian creek, killed a man named Hill — sometimes spelled Hull — and jDrecip- 
itately returning, stole some cattle from Hay's ranch (afterwards Thornton's), and took 
their booty to the hills at the head of Slate creek. On the day following, Samuel Frye 
set out from Hay's ranch with a force of eight men, and following the Indians into the 
hills, came upon them and killed or mortally wounded three of them, as the whites 
reported. The latter retired and probably were followed, as on the next day, while 
returning with re-inforcements, it was found that the Indians had gone to Deer creek 
and murdered Philpot and seriously wounded James Mills. The neighboring settlers 
and others moved immediately to Yarnall's stockade for safety, while Frye, with his 
military company, now increased to twenty men, were active in protecting them, and 
seeking the Indians. News was sent to Fort Lane, and Lieutenant Sw T itzer with a force 



238 INDIAN WARS. 

of twelve men came down and entered upon the search, only to find that the Indians 
had murdered Jerome Dyer and Daniel McCue, on the Applegate, where they had 
gone on their supposed way to the Klamath lakes. A day or so later the Indians, 
finding their way blocked for escape to the eastward, surrendered to the troops and 
were taken to the Fort for safe keeping, as there were no regularly constituted author- 
ities to receive them, and if once allowed to go out of the power of the soldiers would 
infallibly have been killed by the citizens, as indeed they well deserved. The Indians, 
fourteen in number were brought up to the reserve, but Chief Sam put in forcible 
objections against their being allowed to come among his people, saying that some 
whites were endeavoring to raise disturbances among the latter, and their own good 
name would suffer, etc. To this Captain Smith and Agent Ambrose assented, and pro- 
vided a place for the Indians at Fort Lane, where they were kept under guard, as 
much to prevent whites from killing them as to discourage them from running away. 

The next sequence of events that deserves notice, constitutes the " Humbug War," 
well known by that name in Northern California. The whole matter, which at one 
time threatened to assume serious proportions, grew out of a plain case of drunk. Two 
Indians — whether Shastas, Klamaths, or Rogue Rivers there is no evidence to show, 
but presumably from the locality of the former tribe — procured liquor and became 
intoxicated, and while passing along Humbug creek in California, were met by one 
Peterson, who foolishly meddled with them. Becoming enraged, one of the Indians 
shot him, inflicting a mortal wound ; as he fell he drew his own revolver and shot his 
opponent in the abdomen. The Indians started for the Klamath river at full speed, 
while the alarm was given. Two companies of men were instantly formed and sent out 
to arrest the perpetrators. The information that an Indian had shot a white man was 
enough to arouse the whole community, and no punishment would have been deemed 
severe enough for the culprit if he had been taken. The citizens found on the next 
day a party of Indians who refused to answer their questions as they wished, so they 
arrested three of them and set out for Humbug with them. While on the road, two of 
the three escaped, the other one was taken to Humbug, examined before a justice of the 
peace and for want of evidence discharged. When the two escaped prisoners returned 
to their camp, it was the signal for a massacre of whites. That night (July 28) the 
Indians of that band passed down the Klamath, killing all but three of the men work- 
ing between Little Humbug and Horse creeks. Eleven met their death at that time, 
being William Hennessy, Edward Parish, Austin W. Gay, Peter Hignight, John Pol- 
lock, four Frenchmen and two Mexicans. Excitement knew no bounds ; every man 
constituted himself an exterminator of Indians, and a great many of that unfortunate 
race were killed, without the least reference to their possible guilt or innocence- Many 
miserable captives were deliberately shot, hanged or knocked into abandoned prospect 
holes to die. Over twenty-five natives, mostly those who had always been friendly, were 
thus disposed of. Even infancy and old age were not safe from these " avengers," who 
were composed chiefly of the rowdy or " sporting " class. 

Meantime some had said that the Indians who had committed the massacre had 
gone north. On the dissemination of this report, preparations for a pursuit were 
rapidly made, and about the first of August five companies of volunteers started for 
the north side of the Klamath. These were commanded by Captains Hale, Lynch, 



INDIAN WARS. 239 

Martin, Kelly and Ream — the latter's men being mounted, while the others were on 
foot. The total force amounted to about two hundred. The Indians were found to 
have fled beyond the Klamath, and the volunteers, finding their trail, followed it 
closely. The pursued Avere carrying the man whom Peterson wounded, and had gone 
over the summit of the Siskiyou range, and down into the valley of the Applegate, and 
made for the reservation at Fort Lane. When the five companies reached Sterling 
creek, they camped, finding the Indians had escaped them and gone to the reservation. 
Here they held a meeting, and like all Americans in seasons of public anxiety, passed 
resolutions. Those were of the following tenor : 

Steeling, Oregon, August 5, 1855. 

At a meeting of the volunteer companies of Siskiyou county, State of California, who have 
been organized for the purpose of apprehending and punishing certain Indians who have committed 
depredations in our county, E. S. Mowry, Esq., was elected chairman, Dr. D. Ream, secretary, 
and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, Certain Indians, composed of the Klamath, Horse Creek, and a portion of the Rogue 
River tribe, on or about the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth of July, 1855, came upon the Klamath 
river, and there ruthlessly and without provocation, murdered eleven or more of our fellow- citizens 
and friends, a portion of whom we know to have escaped into the reservation near Fort Lane, 
Rogue river valley, Oregon territory, from the fact of having tracked them into said valley and 
from testimony of certain responsible and reliable witnesses ; it is, therefore, 

Resolved, That a committee of five men, one from each company now present, be chosen to 
present these resolutions to Captain Smith, U. S. A., commandant at Fort Lane, and Mr. Palmer, 
the Indian agent for Oregon territory. We would respectfully request Captain Smith, U. S. A. , 
and Mr. Palmer, Indian agent, that they would, if in their power, deliver up to us the fugitive 
Indians who have fled to the reservation, in three days from this date, and if at the end of this 
time they are not delivered to us, together with all the stock and property, we would most respect- 
fully beg of Captain Smith, U. S. A., and the Indian agent full permission to apprehend the fugi- 
tive Indians, and take the property wherever it may be found. 

Resolved, That if at the expiration of three days the Indians and property are not delivered to 
us, and the permission to seek for them is not granted, then we will, on our own responsibility, go 
and take them where they may be found, at all and every hazard. 

Resolved, That the following-named gentlemen compose the committee : 

E S. Mowry, 
J. X. Hale, 
AD. Lake, 
William Parrish, 
E. S. Mowry, Chairman. A. Hawkins, 

Dr. D. Ream, Secretary. Committee. 

The committee went to Fort Lane and found that some of the stock stolen by the 
Indians was there, and that two Rogue River Indians who had been concerned in the 
massacre were then in the guard house. The committee waited upon Captain Smith, 
presented their credentials, and demanded the surrender of the stock and criminals. 
The Captain said that the animals would be delivered up on proof of ownership, but 
that the Indians could on no account be surrendered, excej)t to the jnoperly constituted 
authorities. Lieutenant Mowry then told him plainly that they came after the Indians 
and proposed to have them, if it was necessary to take them by force. This was too 
much for hot-tempered Captain Smith to endure. Threats from a citizen to a regular 
army officer were unheard-of in his experience. He stormed furiously, declined to 
submit to dictation, and invited the bold Californians to put their threats in execution. 
They left, declaring that if the Indians were not forthcoming in three days they would 






240 INDIAN WARS. 

take the fort by storm. The camp was then removed to a point within three or four 
miles of the fort, and the volunteers began .to mature plans for its capture. Captain 
Smith made arrangements to repel attacks, placing his artillery (two or three small 
cannon) in position, loaded and trained upon the approaches, and suspended the visits 
of troops to the surrounding camps. The invaders evolved a plan for making the 
soldiers drunk, whereby they might enter the fort, but this fell through on account of 
communications being sundered ; and within a day or two they left for their homes, 
feeling that a war against the government might terminate injuriously to them. 

After the war of 1855-6 closed, the Indian criminals in question, two in number, 
were surrendered to the sheriff of Siskiyou, upon a warrant charging them with mur- 
der. They were taken to Yreka, and kept in jail until the grand jury met, and no 
indictment being found, they were released. But it happened that a number of men 
in that town had determined that the savages should die. As they walked forth from 
thejail these men locked arms with them, led them out of town, shot them and tum- 
bled their bodies into an old mining shaft where their bones yet lie. 

Years later appropriations were made by congress for the pay of the men belong- 
ing to the five companies, and about 1870 a number of them actually received compen- 
sation for their services in this expedition. 

On the second of September an affray occurred in the upper part of Bear creek 
valley, Jackson county, which resulted in the death of a white man and the wounding 
of two others. A few days previously, some Indians, by some supposed to belong to the 
gang which committed the eleven murders on the Klamath, stole some horses from B. 
Alberding. The owner summoned his neighbors to assist in recovering them, and a 
very small company set out on the quest. Following the trail, they walked into an 
ambuscade of savages, and were fired upon. Granville Keene was killed, Alberding 
was wounded by a ball that struck him above the eye, J. Q. Faber was shot through 
the arm, and another man received a wound in the hand. The party hastily retired, 
leaving the body of Keene where it fell. On the following day a detachment of troops 
from Fort Lane proceeded to the scene of conflict and obtained the much mutilated 
remains, but the Indians, of course, were gone. The savages who were concerned in 
this diabolism were said by different accounts to number from five to thirty. 

The next event of the sort is a still more serious one, which occurred on the 
twenty-fifth of September, and involved the death of two persons. On the previous 
day Harrison B. Oatman and Daniel P. Brittain, of Phoenix, and Calvin M. Fields, 
started from Phoenix, each driving an ox-team loaded with flour destined for Yreka. 
Camping the first night near the foot of the Siskiyou mountains, the train started up 
the ascent the next morning, doubling their teams frequently as was made necessary 
by the steepness of the road. When within three hundred yards of the summit, Oat- 
man and Fields advancing with two teams and one wagon, while Brittain remained 
with two wagons and one team, the latter heard five shots fired in the vicinity of the 
men in advance. Hurrying up the rise he quickly came in sight of the teams, which 
were standing still, while an Indian was apparently engaged in stripping a fallen man. 
Turning back, Brittain ran down the mountain, followed by a bullet from the Indian's 
rifle, but made his way unhurt to the Mountain House, three miles from the scene of 
the attack. Six men hastily mounted and returned to the summit. Oatman, mean- 






INDIAN WARS. 



241 



while had escaped, and got to Hughes' house (now Byron Cole's) on the California 
side, and obtained help. He reported that at the time the attack began, a youth 
named Cunningham, who was returning from Yreka with a team, was passing Oatman 
and Fields when the attack was made, and that he was wounded at the instant Fields 
fell dead. The hitter's body was lying in the road, stripped, but Cunningham was 
only found the next day, lying dead by a tree behind which he had taken refuge. The 
exact spot where the catastrophe occurred — says Mr. Brittain, who still resides at 
Phcenix — is where the railroad tunnel enters from the Oregon side. It is the gentle- 
man's opinion that about fifteen Indians were concerned in the attack. The date 
mentioned, September twenty-fifth, is taken from Mr. Robinson's diary, although Mr. 
Brittain is of the opinion that it took place three days later. Newspaper accounts 
give the twenty-fourth as the proper date. On the following day Samuel 'Warner was 
murdered on Cottonwood creek, not far from the scene of the other tragedy, and most 
likely by the same Indians. At nearly the same time, two men, Charles Scott and 
Thomas Snow, were killed on the trail between Yreka and Scott Bar. These repeated 
killings (whose details are not now known) produced a very considerable degree of 
alarm, but no military measures of importance were taken, except by the officials at 
Fort Lane, who sent forty mounted troops to the various scenes of bloodshed, but these 
returned without having effected anything. 

Our account now approaches the beginning of the war of 1855-6, by some thought 
to have been the result of the incidents above recounted. It is truly difficult at this 
time to accord these circumstances their proper influence in the acts which followed. 
It is evident that the people of Rogue river valley toward the end of the summer of 
1855, must have felt an additional degree of insecurity, but that it was wholly in con- 
sequence of the murders which had previously taken place does not seem probable, 
inasmuch as these murders were committed outside the valley. Their legitimate results 
could hardly have been sufficient to stir up a general war against the Indians, so we 
are left to conjecture the growth of a public sentiment determined upon war. The 
vast majority of settlers, wearied of constant anxiety, heartily and unaffectedly believed 
that the removal of the Indians was desirable and necessary. Whatever may have 
been the exact status of the war party, and whatever the influence of the speculative 
branch of it, it is clear there was no outspoken opposition such as would have been 
created by a general sentiment in favor of peaceful methods. Almost the only out- 
spoken advocate of Indians' rights was compelled to leave the country of his adoption 
from fear of personal violence. Whoever doubts the acerbity of public sentiment at 
that date, will do well to pause here and digest that statement, comparing with it the 
tenor of the editorial remarks to be found in the Sentinel at that time. If that paper 
were a truthful exponent of public opinion, and we believe it was, there must have 
existed a condition of feeling analogous to that in the southern states in the months 
preceding the rebellion. If such publications may be trusted to gauge public senti- 
ment, the feeling of absolute enmity against the natives must have increased ten-fold 
since the signing of the Lane treaty. And as there was nothing in the conduct of the 
Indians to fully warrant this, we shall not, probably, be far out of the way in assign- 
ing much of it to the influence of those who, for various reasons, desired war. Un- 
doubtedly this view will fail to please those whose belief as to the cause of the war of 



32 



242 INDIAN WARS ; 

1855-6 is founded upon current traditions; but such should remember that those tradi- 
tions date their commencement from a time when it was extremely unpopular, even dan- 
gerous, to oiypose the war, and as unpopular to print or speak anything of an opposing 
character. It has thus far been regarded as indisputable fact that Indian outrages 
brought on the war, and were the sole cause of it. Keeping in view the principle with 
which we set out, that the war was unavoidable from the very nature of things, it seems 
a fair and impartial conclusion that it could have been, by the use of tact and justice, 
postponed at least for a time. Instances might be multiplied to show the drift of 
public sentiment at the time of which we speak; pages might be written and endless 
quotations made; but it would seem that the foregoing paragraphs set forth the state 
of affairs with sufficient clearness. The existence of a war party was assured; and with 
the unexpected stimulus of the terrible massacre of October ninth, this war party 
proved powerful enough to effect the deportation of the Indians — a fact not to be 
regretted. Previous to that date no excuses were deemed necessary for even the most 
violent measures; but when criticism subsequently awoke, editorials were written, 
affidavits prepared, and another war (of words) was fought to prove the first one neces- 
sary. For as matters then existed outside sympathy had to be created — the conscien- 
ces of some people had to be calmed — some men had to be made heroes of — appropri- 
ations had to be got — and congress had to be won over. 

It is undoubtedly true that those writers and speakers who have attempted to 
apologize for or extenuate certain acts having a bearing on the question have most 
blunderingly performed their task. To effect this end required a high degree of tact 
and skill, both of which it would appear were wanting at that date. For example : 
Although we have evidence to show that the LujJton incident was the work partly of 
hair-brained enthusiasts and professed ruffians who in no sense represented the com- 
munity, still their act was adopted and defended by those who took it upon themselves 
to advocate the what they styled the cause of the people of Southern Oregon. The act 
should have been promptly repudiated as of too brutal a nature to represent the wishes 
of an enlightened and humane public. In other respects these apologists far overstepped 
the bounds of tact and prudence. Officials of the United States government were 
antagonized, thereby endangering governmental support. Column after column of the 
Sentinel, the only paper then published south of Salem, was filled with abuse of Gene- 
ral Wool, Joel Palmer and other officials, and violent recriminations concerning the 
conduct of the war generally. The result of this was that the government become sus- 
picious and sent an agent to investigate, as has been before remarked. 

It has always been regarded as a remarkable circumstance that the Indians on 
and near the reservation should have been (with the exception of Sam's band) fully 
prepared for an outbreak exactly at the time when the " exterminators " made their 
attack at the mouth of Little Butte creek, thereby furnishing an all sufficient reason 
for such outbreak. A still more suggestive fact is the simultaneous beginning of war 
in Oregon and Washington territory — a fact so striking as to suggest the collusion of 
those widely separated tribes. How this concert of action was brought about, several 
have attempted to explain, but never in a satisfactory manner. Leaving this subject 
we will proceed to consider the Lupton affair. 



INDIAN WARS. 



243 



On the seventh of October, 1855, a party of men, principally miners and raen- 
a bout-town, in Jacksonville, organized and armed themselves to the number of about 
forty (accounts disagree as to number) , and under the nominal leadership of Captain 
Hays and Major James A. Lupton, representative-elect to the territorial legislature 
proceeded to attack a small band of Indians encamped on the north side of Rogue river 
near the mouth of Little Butte creek a few miles above Table Rock. Lupton, it appears, 
was a man of no experience in bush fighting, but was rash and headstrong. His mili- 
tary title, says Colonel Ross, was unearned in war and was probably gratuitous. It is 
the prevailing opinion that he was led into the affair through a wish to court popu- 
larity, which is almost the only incentive that could have occurred to him. Certainly 
it could not have been plunder; and the mere love of fighting which probably drew the 
greater part of the force together was perhaps absent in his case. The reason why the 
particular band at Butte creek was selected as victims also appears a mystery, although 
the circumstances of their location being accessible, their numbers small, and their 
reputation as fighters very slight, possibly were the ruling considerations. This band 
of Indians appear to have behaved themselves tolerably ; they were pretty fair Indians, 
but beggars, and on occasion thieves. They had been concerned in no considerable 
outrages that are distinctly specified. The attacking party arrived at the river on the 
evening of the seventh, and selecting a hiding place, remained therein until daylight, 
the appointed time for the attack. The essential particulars of the fight which followed 
are, when separated from a tangle of contradictory minutiaB, that Lupton and his party 
fired a volley into the crowded encampment, following up the sudden and totally unex- 
pected attack by a close encounter with knives, revolvers, and whatever weapon they 
were possessed of, and the Indians were driven away or killed without making much 
resistance. These facts are matters of evidence, as are also the killing of several squaws, 
one or more old decrepit men, and a number, probably small, of children. The un- 
essential particulars vary greatly. For instance, Captain Smith reported to govern- 
ment that eighty Indians were slaughtered. Other observers, perhaps less prejudiced, 
placed the number at thirty. Certain accounts, notably that contributed to the States- 
man by A. J. Kane, denied that there were any " bucks " present at the fight, the 
whole number of Indians being women, old men, and children. It is worth while to 
note that Mr. A. J. Kane promptly retracted this supposed injurious statement, and in 
a card to - the Sentinel said he believed there were some bucks present. Certain "Indian 
fighters," also appended their names to the card. 

The exact condition of things at the fight, or massacre, as some have characterized 
it, is difficult to determine. Accounts vary so widely that by some it has been termed a 
heroic attack, worthy of Leonidasor Alexander; others have called it an indiscriminate 
butchery of defenceless and peaceful natives, the earliest possessors of the soil. To 
temporize with such occurrences does not become those who seek the truth only, and 
the world would be better could such deeds meet at once the proper penalty and be 
known by their proper name. Whether or not Indian men were present does not con- 
cern the degree of criminality attached to it. The attack was indiscriminately against 
all. The Indians were at peace with the whites and therefore unprepared. To fitly 
characterize the whole proceeding, is to say that it was Indian-like. 



244 INDIAN WAES. 

The results of the matter, were the death of Lupton, who was mortally wounded 
by an arrow which penetrated his lungs, the wounding of a young man, Shepherd by 
name, the killing of at least a score of Indians, mainly old men, and the revengeful 
outbreak on the part of the Indians, whose account forms the most important part of 
this history. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



THE MASSACRE OF OCTOBER NINTH, AND WAR IN GRAVE CREEK HILLS. 

A Memorable Day — The Indians Leave the Reservation— The Murder of Twenty People— Women in Cap- 
tivity — Mrs. Harris Defends her Family— Volunteers to the Rescue — General State of Alarm— An Army 
Organized — An Example of Promptness — Siege of Galice Creek — Discovery of the Indians' Where- 
abouts — Lieutenant Kautz Surprised — Expedition to Hungry Hill — Battle at Bloody Spring — A Defeat — 
Causes — The Volunteers and Regulars Disagree — A Parallel — Proclamation of Governor Curry — Army 
Reorganized — The Indians Retreat to the Meadows. 

Immediately succeeding the event last detailed, came a series of startling and 
lamentable occurrences, which produced an impression on the community which 
the lapse of over a quarter of a century has by no means effaced. The ninth of 
October, 1855, has justly been called the most eventful day in the history of Southern 
Oregon. On that day nearly twenty persons lost their lives, victims to Indian ferocity 
and cruelty. Their murder lends a somber interest to the otherwise dry details of 
Indian skirmishes, and furnishes many a romantic though saddening page to the 
annalist who would write the minute history of those times. A portion of the incidents 
of that awful day have been written for publications of wide circulation, and thus have 
become a part of the country's stock-in-trade of Indian tales. Certain of them have 
taken their place in the history of our country along with the most stirring and romantic 
episodes of border warfare. Many and varied are this country's legends of hair- 
breadth escapes and heroic defense against overpowering odds. There is nothing told 
in any language to surpass in daring and devotion the memorable defense of the Har- 
ris home. Mrs. Wagner's mysterious fate still bears a melancholy interest, and while 
time endures the people of this region cannot forget the mournfully tragic end of all 
who died on that fateful day. 

As the present memories describe it, the attack was by most people wholly unex- 
pected, in spite of the previous months of anxiety. The recklessness of the whites 
who precipitated the outbreak by their conduct at the Indian village above Table Rock^ 
had left unwarned the outlying settlers, upon whose defenseless and innocent heads 
fell the storm of barbaric vengeance. Early on the morning of October ninth, the 




INDIAN WARS. 245 

bands of several of the more warlike chiefs gathered at or near Table Rock, set out 
traveling westward, down the river, and transporting their families, their arms and 
otlur property, and bent on war. It is not at this moment possible to ascertain the 
names of those chiefs, nor the number of their braves ; but it has been thought that 
Limpy, the chief of the Illinois band, with George, chief of the lower Rogue river 
band, were the most prominent and influential Indians concerned in the matter. Their 
numbers, if we follow the most reliable accounts, would indicate that from thirty-five 
to fifty Indians performed the murders of which we have now to discourse. Their first 
act was to murder William Goin or Going, a teamster, native of Missouri, and em- 
ployed on the reservation, where he inhabited a small hut or house. Standing by the 
hre-place in conversation with Clinton Schieffelin, he was fatally shot, at two o'clock in 
the morning. The particular individuals who accomplished this killing were, says 
Mr. Schieffelin, members of John's band of Applegates, who were encamped on Ward 
creek, a mile above its mouth, and twelve miles distant from the camp of Sam's band. 
Hurrying through the darkness to Jewett's ferry these hostiles, now reinforced by 
the band of Limpy and George, found there a pack-train loaded with mill-irons. 
Hamilton, the man in charge of it, was killed, and another individual was severely 
wounded, being hit in four places. They next began firing at Jewett's house, within 
which were several persons in bed, it not being yet daylight. Meeting with resistance 
they gave up the attack and moved to Evans' ferry, which they reached at daybreak. 
Here they shot Isaac Shelton, of Willamette valley, en route for Yreka. He lived 
twenty hours. The next victim was Jones, proprietor of a ranch, whom they shot 
dead near his house. His body was nearly devoured by hogs before it was found. 
The house was set on fire, and Mrs. Jones was pursued by an Indian and shot with a 
revolver, when she fell senseless, and the savage retired supposing her dead. She 
revived and was taken to Tufts' place and lived a day. O. P. Robbins, Jones' part- 
ner, was hunting cattle at some distance from the house. Getting upon a stump he 
looked about him and saw the house on fire. Correctly judging that Indians were 
abroad, he proceeded to Tufts and Evans' places and secured the help of three men, 
but the former place the Indians had already visited and shot Mrs. Tufts through the 
body, but being taken to Illinois valley she recovered. Six miles north of Evans 
ferry the Indians fell in with and killed two men who were transporting supplies from 
the Willamette valley to the mines. They took the two horses from the wagon, and 
went on. The house of J. B. Wagner was burned, Mrs. Wagner being previously 
murdered, or, as an unsubstantiated story goes, she was compelled to remain in it until 
dead. This is refinement of horrors indeed. For a time her fate was unknown, but 
it was finally settled thus. Mary, her little daughter, was taken to the Meadows, on 
lower Rogue river, some weeks after, according to the Indians' own accounts, but died 
there. Mr. Wagner being from home escaped death. Coming to Haines' house, Mr. 
Haines being ill in bed, they shot him to death, killed two children and took his 
wife prisoner. Her fate was a sad one, and is yet wrapped in mystery. It seems 
likely, from the stories told by the Indians, that the unhappy woman died about a 
week afterwards, from the effects of a fever aggravated by improper food. When the 
subsequent war l'agecl, a thousand inquiries were made concerning the captive, and 



246 INDIAN WARS. 

not a stone was left unturned to solve the mystery. The evidence that exists bearing 
ujDon the subject is unsatisfactory indeed, but may be deemed sufficiently conclusive. 

At about nine o'clock a. m., the savages approached the house of Mr. Harris, about 
ten miles north of Evans', where dwelt a family of four — Mr. and Mrs. Harris and 
their two children, Mary aged twelve, and David aged ten years. With them resided 
T. A. Reed, an unmarried man employed by or with Mr. Harris in farmwork. Reed 
was some distance from the house, and was set upon by a party of the band of hostiles 
and killed, no assistance being near. His skeleton was found a year after. David, 
the little son of the fated family, had gone to a field at a little distance, and in all 
likelihood was taken into the woods by his captors and slain, as he was never after 
heard of. Some have thought that he was taken away and adopted into the tribe — a 
theory that seems hardly probable, as his presence would have become known when 
the entire band of hostiles surrendered several months afterward. It seems more 
probable that the unfortunate youth was taken prisoner, and proving an inconvenience 
to his brutal captors, was by them unceremoniously murdered and his corpse thrown 
aside, where it remained undiscovered. Mr. Harris was surprised by the Indians, and 
retreating to the house, was shot in the breast as he reached the door. His wife, with 
the greatest courage and presence of mind, closed and barred the door, and in obedi- 
ence to her wounded husband's advice, brought down the fire-arms which the house 
contained — a ritie, a double shotgun, a revolver and a single- barreled pistol — and 
began to fire at the Indians, hardly with the expectation of hitting them, but to deter 
them from assaulting or setting fire to the house. Previous to this a shot fired by the 
Indians had wounded her little daughter in the arm, making a painful but not danger- 
ous flesh wound, and the terrified child climbed to the attic of the dwelling where she 
remained for several hours. Throughout all this time the heroic woman kept the 
savages at bay, and attended as well as she was able to the wants of her fearfully 
wounded husband, who expired in about an hour after he was shot. Fortunately, she 
had been taught the use of fire-arms; and to this she owed her preservation and that 
of her daughter. The Indians, who could be seen moving about in the vicinity of the 
house, were at pains to keep within cover and dared not approach near enough to set 
fire to the dwelling, although they burned the out-buildings, first taking the horses, 
from the stable. Mrs. Harris steadily loaded her weapons, and fired them through 
the crevices between the logs of which the house was built. In the afternoon, though 
at what time it was impossible for her to tell, the Indians drew off and left the stout- 
hearted woman mistress of the field. She had saved her own and her daughter's life, 
and added a deathless page to the record of the country's history. 

After the departure of the savages, the heroine with her daughter left the house 
and sought refuge in a thicket of willows near the road, and remained there all night. 
Next morning several Indians passed, but did not discover them, and during the day 
a company of volunteers, hastily collected in Jacksonville, approached, to whom the 
two presented themselves, the sad survivors of a once happy home. 

When, on the ninth of October, a rider came clashing into Jacksonville and 
quickly told of the fray, great excitement prevailed, and men volunteered to go to the 
aid of whoever might need help. Almost immediately a score of men were in their 
saddles and pushing toward the river. Major Fitzgerald, stationed at Fort Lane, went 



INDIAN WARS. 247 

or was sent by Captain Smith, at the head of fifty-five mounted men, and these going 
with the volunteers, proceeded along the track of ruin and desolation left by the 
savages. At Wagner's house, some five or six volunteers who were in advance, came 
upon a few Indians hiding in the brush near by, who, unsuspicious of the main body 
advancing along the road, challenged the whites to a fight. Major Fitzgerald came 
up and ordered a charge; and six of the "red devils" were killed, and the rest driven 
"on the jump" to the hills, but could not be overtaken. Giving up the pursuit, the 
regulars and volunteers marched along the road to the Harris house, where, as we 
have seen, they found the devoted mother and her child, and removed them to a place 
of safety in Jacksonville. They proceeded to and camped at Grave creek that night, 
and returned the next day. 

A company of volunteers led by Captain Rinearson hastily came from Cow 
creek, and scoured the country about Grave creek and vicinity, finding quite a number 
of bodies of murdered men. On the tw T enty-fifth of October the body of J. B. Powell, 

of Lafayette, Yamhill county, was found and buried. James White and Fox 

had been previously found dead. All the houses along the Indians' route had been 
robbed and then burned, with two or three exceptions. 

It would be difficult to picture the state of alarm which prevailed wdien the full 
details of the massacre were made known. Self^reservation, the first law of nature, 
was exemplified in the actions of all. The people of Rogue river valley, probably 
without exception, withdrew from their ordinary occupations and "forted up" or retired 
to the larger settlements. Jacksonville was the objective point of most of these fugi- 
tives, who came in on foot, on horse or mule back, or with their families or more 
portable property loaded on wagons drawn by oxen. In every direction mines were 
abandoned, farms and fields were left unwatched, the herdsman forsook his charge, 
and all sought refuge from the common enemy. The industries which had suffered a 
severe but only temporary check in the summer of 1853, were again brought to a 
standstill, and the trade and commerce which were rapidly building up Jackson and 
her neighboring counties, became instantly paralyzed. All business and pleasure were 
forsaken, to devise means to meet and vanquish the hostile bands. Nor was this state 
of affairs confined to the Rogue river country. Other and far distant regions caught 
the infection, and for a time the depressing expectation of Indian forays racked many 
a breast. The people of far removed districts devised means of defense from imagi- 
nary foes. The Methodists of the Tualatin plains, in peaceful Washington county, 
built a stockade about their little church, within which, unterrified by imminent 
danger, they might worship God as did the Pilgrim Fathers while their red-skinned 
adversaries howled and beat upon their impregnable fortress. An imaginary host of 
Indians threatened the Willamette valley from north, from south and from east. 
Three hundred Klamath warriors had arrived, it was rumored, at the head of the 
Santiam, and were preparing to rush upon the defenseless settlements below. Indian 
alarmists at Salem and Portland projected measures of defense, and boiled over in 
indignation when their advice was rejected. A safety meeting was held at Corvallis 
because three hundred Cow Creek Indians were said to have come north of the Cala- 
pooia mountains, and threatened the lives of all. The Oregon papers of that date 
were full of matter calculated to show the extreme state of apprehension which like a 



248 INDIAN WAES. 

wave swept over this fair land. It will be believed that there was ample reason for 
such a feeling in those who lived south of the Calapooias. The settlers on the 
Umpqim and its tributaries were obviously endangered, nor did they escape the incon- 
veniencies, and in some cases, the actual presence of war. They, like their less fortu- 
nate friends on the Rogue river, "forted up," that is, retired to places of safety, and 
there remained until the Indian scare had settled clown to steady warfare. At Scotts- 
burg, more than a hundred miles from the seat of war, the inhabitants thus took 
refuge. The commonest form of protective structure was a house of logs with loop- 
holes between, through which a fire of small-arms might be kept up. At other places 
more elaborate defenses were substituted, the old-fashioned block house, with its loop- 
holes and projecting upper story, being a not uncommon sight. Earthworks, consist- 
ing of rifle pits including a house, were a favorite form. Any structure so situated as 
to command quite an area, and so built as to resist rifle bullets and afford immunity 
against fire, served for the temporary habitation of those who were driven from their 
own homes. 

It should be remarked that the situation in Southern Oregon was even more serious 
than was thought possible by those who viewed these affairs from abroad, or through 
the distorting medium of the newspapers. The people were beset on all sides by sav- 
ages, they knew not how numerous, and who might strike, they knew not where. The 
extent of the Indian uprising was not at first understood. The few Indians who had 
done so much mischief in the Siskiyou mountains were now imitated on a much grander 
scale by many times their number of bolder and more skillful fighters, who were well 
supplied with ammunition, and having in profusion, guns, rifles, revolvers and knives, 
as great in assortment and better in quality than the whites themselves were provided 
with. Besides, of the several thousand Indians who inhabited Southern Oregon, no 
one could tell which band might dig up the hatchet and go on the war parth in imita- 
tion of those who were already so actively butchering and burning. The Table Rock 
band, steadfastly friendly, withstood the temptation to avenge their undoubted griev- 
ances, and remained upon the reservation, thereby diminishing the enemy's force very 
considerably. The Coast Indians, formidable and dangerous barbarians, as yet had 
not been influenced to join the malcontents, but we shall see how at a later date they 
became hostile and equalled their allies in savagery and bloodthirstiness. 

To oppose such an array of active murderers and incendiaries, the general gov- 
ernment had a small number of troops unfitted to perform the duties of Indian fighting 
by reason of their unsuitable mode of dress, tactics and their dependence upon quar- 
termaster and commissary trains. The fact has been notorious throughout all the 
years of American independence that the regular army, however brave or well offi- 
cered, has not been uniformly successful in fighting the Indians. The reasons for this 
every frontiersman knows. They are as set forth above. But npon such troops the 
government in 1855 relied to keep peace between the hostile white and Indian popu- 
lation in Southern Oregon, and although with final success, we shall see that the 
operation of subduing the Indians was needlessly long and tedious. We shall also see 
how an ill-organized, unpaid, ill-fed, ill-clothed and insubordinate volunteer organiza- 
tion, brought together in as many hours as it required weeks to marshal a regular 
force, dispersed the savages repeatedly, fought them wherever they could be found, and 



INDIAN WARS. 



249 



in the most cheerless days of winter resolutely followed their inveterate foe, and were 
" in at the death" of the allied tribes. 

The formation of volunteer companies and the enrollment of men, began imme- 
diately upon the receipt of the news of the outbreak. The chief settlements — Jackson- 
ville, Applegate creek, Sterling, Illinois valley, Deer creek, Butte creek, Galice creek, 
Grave creek, Vannoy's ferry, and Cow creek — become centers of enlistment, and to 
them resorted the farmes, miners, and traders of the vicinity, who with the greatest 
unanimity enrolled themselves as volunteers to carry on the war which all now saw to 
be unavoidable. On the twelfth of October, John E. Ross, Colonel of the Ninth regi- 
ment of Oregon militia, assumed command of the forces already raised, by virtue of his 
commission, and in compliance with a resolution of the people of Jacksonville and 
vicinity. Recognizing the need of mounted troops for the duty of protecting the settle- 
ments, he made proclamation calling into service men provided with horses and arms, 
and in two days had increased his command to nine companies, aggregating five hun- 
dred men. Several of these companies had been on duty from the day succeeding the 
massacre, so promptly did their members respond to the call of duty. The regiment 
was increased by the first of November, to fifteen companies, containing an average of 
fifty men each, or seven hundred and fifty in all. The initiatory steps of the organiza- 
tion of the volunteer forces were necessarily precipitous, and in some cases correspond- 
ingly irregular. This organization was based upon the militia law of the territory, as 
it then existed, declaring the territory a military district for brigade purposes, of which 
by authority of the act of congress organizing the territory, the governor was com- 
mander-in-chief. This law further provided for the appointment by the governor, of 
a brigadier general, and for the election in subordinate districts, of colonels and other 
regimental officers. It also embraced the usual departments of the general staff, and 
provided for the commission of their chief, and subordinate officers. 

It is justly thought remarkable that such a force could have been raised in a 
country of such a limited population as Southern Oregon ; and this fact is rendered still 
more remarkable by the extreme promptness with which this respectable little army was 
gathered. If Ave examine the muster-rolls of the different companies, we shall be struck 
by the youth of the volunteers — the average age being not beyond twenty-four years. 
From all directions they came, these young, prompt and brave men, from every gulch, 
hillside and plain, from every mining claim, trading post and farm of this extensive 
region, and from the sympathizing towns and mining camps of Northern California, 
which, also sent their contingents. Thus an army was gathered, able in all respects to 
perform their undertaking of restoring peace, and suddenly too. These troops, as 
already said, were mounted. Their animals were gathered from pack-trains, farms and 
towns, and were in many cases unused to the saddle. But the exegencies of war did 
not allow the rider to hesitate between a horse and a mule, or to humor the whims of 
the stubborn mustang or intractable cayuse. With the greatest celerity and prompt- 
ness the single organizations had hurried to the rescue of the outlying settlements and 
in many cases preserved the lives of settlers menaced by Indians. Captain Rinearson, 
at Cow creek, enrolled thirty-five men on the day following the massacre, and by night- 
fall had stationed his men so as to effectually guard many miles of the road, leaving 
men at the Canvon, at Levens' Station, at Turner's, and the remainder at Harkness 



33 



250 INDIAN WARS. 

and Twogood's Grave Creek House; and receiving reinforcements, sent thirty men clown 
Grave creek and to Galice creek. By such exertions the enemy were overawed, and 
the white inhabitants, seeing an armed force in their midst, began to regain calmness 
and confidence. 

While the work of organizing the forces was going on, the Indian marauders had 
retired to the neighborhood of Grave creek, Cow creek and Galice creek, on each of 
which and particularly the two latter, were important settlements. The country 
threatened and partially occupied by the hostiles was the northern part of Josephine 
county — a land of canyons, narrow valleys, steep mountain sides and thick woods. 
Into this almost inaccessible retreat they had thrown themselves, and from there they 
issued forth at will to burn, plunder and murder. On the morning of the seventeenth 
of October the united bands of Limpy, George, John and Tenas Tyee made an attack 
on the headquarters of the volunteers on Galice creek, and the fight ensued which has 
been celebrated since as the "Siege of Galice creek." Captain William B. Lewis, in 
command of a company of about thirty-five men, was stationed at the creek, where his 
men were doing inicket and garrison duty. On the day mentioned, two men came to 
headquarters and reported finding Indian signs near by. Directly after Sergeant 
Adams, who had proceeded out to reconnoitre, was fired at by the hostiles who 
appeared in strong force on the hill overlooking the houses used as headquarters. 
Several volunteers who were standing near were also fired upon, and Private J. W. 
Pickett was mortally wounded by a shot through the body, and died during the day. 
The headquarters consisted of two board houses, situated some twenty yards apart, and 
about an equal distance from the stream. Some, four or five men took a position in a 
ditch which had been cut for defensive purposes; others took shelter within a log 
corral adjoining one of the houses, while within the latter the remainder were installed. 
The enemy were hidden behind natural obstructions in all directions from the defenses, 
which they surrounded. Very soon the men were driven from the ditch, and took 
refuge in the houses. While retreating toward the house, Private Israel D. Adams 
was shot and fell, mortally injured, near the house, being assisted into it by Private 
Allen Evans, who, while thus engaged, received a severe wound in the jaw. The 
Indians immediately occupied the ditch to the number of twenty or more, and kept up 
a fire on the houses, within which the volunteers were erecting defences by digging up 
floors, piling up blankets, etc. The Indians loudly announced their intention of firing 
the houses, scalping the men, and capturing the provisions and ammunition, and this 
cheerful talk was translated by the squaw of Umpqua Joe, a friendly Indian who was 
taking part with the whites, and who, with the squaw, was in the house. Umpqua 
Joe himself had the misfortune to be wounded ; and during the fight a bullet pene- 
trated the thin walls of the house and struck Private Samuel Sanders in the head, 
killing him instantly. Considerable conversation of an unfriendly nature passed 
between the different sides, and a steady fire was kept up by both. Several attempts 
were made by the enemy to set fire to the houses, and Chief George particularly distin- 
guished himself by attempting to throw burning faggots upon the roofs. This man, 
as well as John, Limpy and others, were recognized by the besieged party. The 
engagement lasted nearly all day, the Indians at nightfall retiring from the scene. 
When they had disappeared, the volunteers went to work to strengthen their defences 



INDIAN WARS. 



251 



by extending their ditch, at which they occupied themselves nearly all night. In the 
morning some Indians appeared, and seeing from the preparations that the whites were 
well ready to receive them, fired their guns, retreated, and were not again seen on 
Galice creek. The different accounts of this fight describe it as having been a closely 
contested affair, and of really important consequences. Three men had been killed or 
mortally wounded. Besides these, Benjamin Tufts, severely wounded, died on the 
twenty-eighth of November following. Captain Lewis, First Lieutenant W. A. Moore, 
and Privates Allen Evans, John Erixson, Louis Dunois, Milton Blacklidge and Ump- 
qua Joe were wounded. How great the Indian loss was could not be determined, as 
they carried away their injured, according to custom. The common opinion was that 
it was about equal to that of the whites. Thus the fight was comparatively desperate 
and bloody. 

A few days subsequent to the fight at Galice creek, and while the whereabouts of 
the Indians was unknown, an opportune circumstance revealed their place of abode. 
Lieutenant (since General) A. V. Kautz, of the regular army, set out from Port Orford 
with a guard of ten soldiers to explore the country lying between that place and Fort 
Lane, thinking to find a route for a practicable trail or wagon road by which the 
inland station could be supplied from Port Orford instead of the longer and very diffi- 
cult Crescent City route. The country proved even more rough, steep and precipitous 
than it had been reported to be ; and the Lieutenant was many days upon his journey. 
Leaving the river near the mouth of Grave creek, he ascended the neighboring hills 
and, much to his surprise, came upon a very large band of Indians. As they proved 
hostile, there was no resource but to run for it, and losing one man by the savages' 
fire, the officer made his escape to Fort Lane, fortunate in getting away so easily- 
Having now, by this unlucky experience of Lieutenant Kautz, been made aware 
of the Indians' exact whereabouts, Colonel Ross and Captain Smith, combining forces 
as well as the mutual jealousies of regulars and volunteers would permit, began to plan 
an active campaign. All the disposable troops at Fort Lane consisted of eighty-five 
men and four officers : Captain A. J. Smith, first dragoons ; First Lieutenant H. G. 
Gibson, third artillery ; Second Lieutenant A. V. Kautz, fourth infantry ; and Second 
Lieutenant B. Alston, first dragoons. These set out on the twenty-seventh of October, 
and on arriving at the Grave creek house were joined by Colonel Ross' command, of 
about two hundred and ninety men, besides a portion of Major Martin's force from 
Deer creek. From this point the combined forces moved on October thirtieth, to the 
Indian camp, arriving at daybreak at a point where Captains Harris and Bruce were 
deployed to the left, while Captain Smith, with the regulars, took the ridge to the 
right, with the expectation of arriving in the rear of the Indians' position, whereby 
they might be surrounded and captured. Captains Williams and Rinearson followed 
in Captain Smith's tracks. The country not being perfectly known by the whites, sev- 
eral mistakes followed in consequence, and Harris and Bruce came directly upon the 
Indian encampment, and were in full view of the savages before any strategic move- 
ment could be made, and no opportunity for surprising the enemy offered itself. The 
time was sunrise, and Captain Smith had gained his rear position and had built fires 
for his men's refreshment, at the place where Lieutenant Kautz had been attacked. 
By these fires the Indians were warned of the party in their rear, and prepared them- 



252 INDIAN WARS. 

selves accordingly. The regulars descended into a deep gorge, climbed up the other side 
and directly were engaged with the Indians, who advanced to meet them. The savages 
" paraded in true military style," but directly fell back to a ledge of rocks or to the 
brushy crest of a hill. From the crest of the hill for a mile or more in the rear of 
the Indians, was a dense thicket ; on the right and left were precipitous descents into a 
gorge filled with pines and undergrowth, in which the natives concealed themselves 
almost perfectly from the view of the whites, who possessed no resources sufficient to 
dislodge them. The ridge being bare on top, the men were necessarily exposed to the 
enemy's fire, and some casualties resulted. Movements were made to get in the 
Indians' rear in this new j:>osition, but such attempts were futile. Several charges were 
made by the regulars but ineffectually, although the men were for considerable periods 
within ten or twenty yards of the hostiles. The latter fought bravely and steadily, 
picking off the whites by a regular fire from their rifles, which were pitied against the 
inferior weapons of the troops, or at least of the regulars, two-thirds of whom had 
only the ' : musketoon," a short, smooth-bore weapon, discharging inaccurately a heavy 
round bullet, whose range was necessarily slight. About sunset the commanders con- 
cluded to retire from the field, and did so, first posting sentries to observe the savages' 
movements. The united commands encamped for the night at Bloody Spring, as it 
was named, some distance down the hill. 

On the following morning Lieutenant Gibson, of the regulars, with ten men, pro- 
ceeded up the hill to the battle-field, to secure the dead body of a private of his detach- 
ment, and when returning with it was pursued by the savages, who came down and 
attacked the camp in force, firing numerous shots. No damage was done by this 
attack except the wounding of Lieutenant Gibson, and after a time the savages were 
driven off. No further attempt against the Indians was made, and after advising with 
their officers the two commanders decided to remove their troops from the vicinity. 
Accordingly, orders were given and the retrograde march began. 

The total loss was thirty-one, of whom nine were killed, and twenty-two wounded. 
Several of the latter died of their injuries. The volunteers killed were Privates Jacob 
W. Miller, James Pearcy and Henry Pearl, of Rinearson's company; John Winters, 
of Williams'; and Jonathan A. Pedigo, of Harris'. The wounded were Privates 
William H. Crouch, Enoch Miller and Ephriam Tager, of Rinearson's ; Thomas 
Ryan and William Stamms, of Williams' ; L. F. Allen, John Goldsby, Thomas Gill, 
C. B. Hinton, William M. Hand, William I. Mayfield, William Purnell and William 
White, of Harris'; C. C. Goodwin, of Bruce's; and John Kennedy, of Welton's. The 
latter died on the seventh of November, and C. B. Hinton. in endeavoring to make his 
way alone to the Grave Creek House, lost his road and perished from exposure. This 
fight, occurring on the thirty-first of October and the first of November, is known by 
the several names of the Battle of Bloody Springs, Battle of Hungry Hill, and Battle 
in the Grave Creek Hills. 

From these details, and considering that the Indians maintained their position on 
the battle-field, without great loss, it is evident that the campaign was an unsuccessful 
one. It is generally admitted by the whites who took part in the engagement, that the 
affair resulted in a partial defeat, and they ascribe therefor several reasons, either of 
which seems sufficient. The inclemency of the weather is set forth as a reason, and is 







,: ■ "' 



INDIAN WARS. 



253 



doubtless an important one. It is known from good authority that one man perished 
from cold and wet, and that the bodies of those slain in the fight were frozen stiff in a 
few hours. This would indicate very severe cold, but from independent sources we 
gather that the weather throughout the winter was exceptionally severe. Troops, ill 
provided with blankets and clothing, stationed at the very considerable altitude of 
the Grave creek hills, were under the worst possible circumstances for continuing the 
attack. Besides, a still more serious reason presented itself. There was not a sufficient 
supply of food to maintain a single company of men. The commissariat was in chaotic 
condition, and supplies were either not sent out, or failed to reach the nearly starving- 
troops in time to be of use. This is a notorious fact in Southern Oregon, but, singu- 
larly enough, fails to appear in the earliest published accounts of the affair. The 
commissary and quartermaster departments were at fault, nor do they appear to have 
been efficiently administered at any time during the war, although their expenses (duly 
charged to the United States) were preposterously great. Figures are at hand to show 
that the expense of the latter department exceeded, for a time, eight hundred dollars 
per day! And this for transportation alone. A large number of Mexicans were borne 
on the rolls as packers, whose daily pay was six dollars, and who had the care and 
management of about one hundred and fifty pack animals, which were used in carrying 
supplies from Jacksonville or Crescent City to the seat of war. They belonged to the 
volunteer service, and were entirely distinct from the trains by which the regulars at 
Fort Lane were supplied. It was to the mismanagement of the persons in charge of 
the trains that the failure of the campaign was attributed, and apparently with con- 
siderable justice. The charge of insubordination made against the volunteers in con- 
sequence of their conduct at Bloody spring, will be recalled when treating of the later 
events of the war. 

As was customary with the regular army officials at that date, a great deal of 
blame was cast upon the volunteers for their alleged failure to properly second the 
efforts of the government troops. This charge is retorted upon Captain Smith's 
soldiers by counter-charges of similar tenor ; and as neither side in the controvesy is 
supported by any but interested evidence, we cannot at this date satisfactorily discuss 
the question. The matter, however, is connected with the invariable tendency to 
antagonism of the two related, yet opposed, bi'anches of service, which antagonism 
shows itself on every similar occasion, and is an annoying subject indeed. We see the 
spectacle of two different organizations, bent upon the same object and pursuing an 
identical road to the attainment of their object, but falling into bitterness by the way- 
side and continually reviling each other, and failing to lend their moral support and 
frequently their physical aid. 

The governor of Oregon, George L. Curry, entered considerably into the business 
of making proclamations during the events of the Rogue river war, and his first effort 
in that line, bearing upon the prosecution of hostilities in this region, was as follows : 

Whereas, By petition numerously signed by citizens of Umpqua valley, calling upon me for 
protection, it has come to my knowledge that the Shasta and Rogue River Indians, in Southern 
Oregon, in violation of their solemn engagements, are now in arms against the peace of this terri- 
tory ; that they have, without respect to age or sex, murdered a large number of our people, 
burned their dwellings, and destroyed their property ; and that they are now menacing the south- 
ern settlements with all the atrocities of savage warfare, I issue this my proclamation, calling for 



254 INDIAN WARS. 

five companies of mounted volunteers, to constitute a northern battalion, and four companies of 
mounted volunteers to constitute a southern battalion, to remain in force until duly discharged. 
The several companies to consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, four 
sergeants, four corporals, and sixty privates, each volunteer to furnish his own horse, arms and 
equipments, each company to select its own officers, and thereafter to proceed with the utmost 
possible dispatch to the rendezvous hereafter appointed. It is expected that Jackson county will 
furnish the number of men wanted for the southern battalion, which will rendezvous at Jackson- 
ville, elect a major to command, and report in writing to headquarters. It will then proceed to 
take effective measures to recover indemnity for the past, and conquer a lasting peace with the 
enemy for the future. The following-named counties are expected to make up the number of men 
wanted for the northern battalion : Lane county, two companies; Linn county, one company; 
Douglas county, one company ; Umpqua county, one company ; which will rendezvous at Rose- 
burg, Douglas county, elect a major to command, and report in writing to headquarters. It will 
then proceed immediately to open and maintain communication with the settlements in the Rogue 
river valley, and thereafter co-operate with the southern battalion in a vigorous prosecution of the 
campaign. 

Given under my hand at Portland, the fifteenth of October, A. D., 1855. 

By the Governor, George L. Curry. 

John K. Lamerick, received the appointment of acting adjutant-general for the 
volunteers on Rogue river, and was entrusted with the duty of mustering in and 
organizing the forces. He arrived at the seat of war several days after the fight at 
Hungry Hill, and immediately proceeded with his duties. Some twelve or thirteen 
companies, of from twenty to eighty men each, presented themselves and requested to 
be mustered in. Lamerick demurred to this, however, as under his instructions the 
services of only four companies could be accepted. He agreed in short, to muster the 
remaining companies into a separate battalion, who could then elect their own major. 
This proposition was not acceptable to many, who wished all to be in the same battalion. 
On the tenth of November the volunteers being encamped at Vannoy's ferry, the com- 
panies of Bruce, Williams, Wilkinson and Alcorn were mustered in, and organized into 
a battalion known as the southern battalion, of which Captain James Bruce was elected 
Major, over Captain R. L. Williams his only competitor. The remaining troops were 
disbanded by order of Colonel Ross. 

At the rendezvous for the northern battalion enlistments began early, and about 
the twentieth of October William J. Martin was elected Major. Quartermaster-General 
McCarver occupied an office in the court house at Roseburg, engaged in fitting out 
the troops. The strength of the companies, set originally at sixty-three rank and file, 
was increased by Major Martin to one hundred and ten. The Douglas county company 
called for by the governor, was easily recruited and held its election October 27, when 
Samuel Gordon was elected captain. The Linn county company was commanded by 
Captain Jonathan Keeney; the two from Lane county by Captains Buoy and Bailey; 
respectively. On the last of November, Major Martin moved his headquarters from 
Roseburg to a point forty-eight miles south of Roseburg, and seven miles north of 
Grave creek, calling his new location Camp Lei and. Here for a few days the com- 
panies of Buoy and Keeney lay, while Bailey moved to Camas valley, and Gordon, 
dividing his company, posted a part in Cow creek valley and the Canyon, and the 
remainder on the North Umpqua, where a few stray Indians had made hostile manifes- 
tations. Some fifty men of the Umpqua company were sent to Scottsburg, near the 
mouth of the river, where, as before remarked, some anxiety was felt regarding an 



INDIAN WARS. 



255 



attack by the savages. Major Martin's written instructions to Captain Bailey at 
Camas prairie, given under date of November 10, conclude thus : " In chastising the 
enemy you will use your own discretion provided you take no prisoners." Captains 
Buoy and Keeney received similar instructions, the original order being now on file 
in the state house at Salem. 

The southern battalion had posted at the same time, detachments at Evans' ferry 
and at Bowden's, and troops were sent to assist Messrs. Harkness & Twogood, who were 
holding their tavern on Grave creek, and declared their purpose to retain it at all 
hazards. They had erected a complete stockade of timbers and prepared for a siege? 
as after the fight at Hungry hill it was supposed that Indian attacks would become 
frequent. The disposition of the military along the line of communication between 
the Rogue river and Umpqua valleys, however, effectually prevented the enemy from 
reaching the more important settlements, and the savages finding all avenues to the 
eastward closed, broke camp at Bloody spring and went down the Rogue river, taking 
refuge in the almost inaccessible country bordering that stream. The mountains 
thereabouts presented almost insuperable obstacles to the transportation of troops and 
supplies by reason of their steepness, the number of deep gorges which intersect them 
and the dense forests by which their sides are clothed. Underbrush of the densest 
kind abounds ; no roads nor even trails existed then, and scarcely do now exist ; am- 
bushes might have been easily formed ; and in a word, the Indians' hiding place was 
perfectly adapted to their security. Having so favorable a country to operate in, and 
being themselves unequaled as " mountain soldiers" and bush-fighters, through long 
experience in the woods, and in actual war they were well situated to resist attacks, as 
we shall see. 

The two battalions composing the " army" as newly organized, were expected to 
co-operate, although their commanding officers were mutually independent. After the 
mustering in at Camp Yannoy, the two Majors, having discovered through their scouts 
where the Indians had gone, determined on a plan of united action, in which they were 
promised the support of all the disposable regulars at Fort Lane. The United States 
forces in November were seriously curtailed by the withdrawal of Major Fitzgerald 
with his company of dragoons, ninety in number, who, under orders from Gen. John E. 
Wool, commanding the Pacific department, proceeded to Vancouver. Captain Judah 
still remained at the fort, and this officer, who acted under Captain Smith's orders, 
joined the exj^edition down the Rogue river — an exj)edition which we will designate as 
the First Meadows Campaign. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE FIRST MEADOWS CAMPAIGN. 

Expedition Down Rogue River — Nothing Accomplished — Various Difficulties in Douglas County— Siege of 
the Cabins on Applegate Creek — The Enemy Escape— Killing of Hull and Angell — Conclusion of the 
Applegate Affair— The Army Re-Organized— Its Strength— Jocular— The War Necessary— Appointment of 
a Brigadier General. 

On November twentieth Majors Martin and Bruce and Captain Judah left Evans' 
creek, taking all the regular and volunteer troops which could be spared, and a suffi- 
cient supply of provisions for a short campaign. A day or two days later, dates 
differing, they encamped at the mouth of Whiskey creek, and found traces of Indians. 
Proceeding down the river the next morning, keeping along the high lands back a 
mile or two from the stream, they found the Indians in strong force in the woods 
bordering the river. The country, as before mentioned, is exceedingly rough, covered 
with tangled underbrush, broken up into deep canyons, precipitous descents, and im- 
penetrable gorges. It was deemed proper to cross to the south side of the river, and 
for this purpose Major Bruce proceeded with his battalion down to the river, being 
then near the mouth of Jackass creek, and attempted to cross. The battalion 
were scattered upon the bar which borders the river on the north bank, and some 
engaged themselves in endeavoring to construct rafts to ferry the command across, 
while others prospected for gold in the gravelly bar. Indians within the dense 
cover of the trees along the south bank began firing, and the whites hurriedly left 
the bar and sought shelter in the brush. Captain Alcorn shouted " Form a line 

here ; where the are you running ?" But his Lieutenant replied, " Form 

and ! Break for the brush, every one of you, or you'll get shot !" And the 

privates thought the latter advice best, and hid themselvas with desperate haste. 
This closed the campaign as far as the battalion of Major Bruce was concerned, for 
thus defeated in their attempt to cross the river they retired to communicate with 
Martin and Judah. The latter officer signalized himself on many occasions through- 
out his residence on the Pacific coast by his devotion to artillery practice. A heavy 
twelve-pound howitzer was the inseparable companion of all his expeditions to fight 
the Indians. On this occasion he had brought this piece with infinite difficulty and 
labor, to the Meadows ; and at the time of Brace's discomfiture he with Martin lay 
upon the hill above him and several miles away, firing from that lofty position his 
clumsy piece of ordnance at the enemy, with the effect only to set the wild echoes flying 
through the hitherto silent solitude. After a deal of unprofitable practice the trio of 
commanders resolved upon a retrograde march ; and loading Captain Judah's toy upon 
a stalwart mule, the army slowly retired to Vannoy's and Camp Leland. One volun- 
teer, William Lewis, of Kenny's company, was killed, and five were wounded. At 



INDIAN WARS. 257 

least one Indian bit the dust, for George Cherry killed a brave and carried the scalp 
tied to his war-horse's bridle. 

The various detachments arrived at the Grave creek camp on November twenty- 
first, and the companies were separated, being sent to guard the more exposed places 
and endeavor to keep the savages from making forays upon the inhabited country lying 
to the westward of their position. The weather came on exceedingly cold and nearly 
put a stop to all military operations for a time. The various companies went into 
winter quarters, but a few events took place in December to prove to the citizens that 
a state of war existed. The first of these was the descent of some twenty or thirty 
Indians upon the Rice settlement at the mouth of Looking-glass creek, eight miles 
south of Roseburg. The hostiles burned the Rice house, and captured some fire-arms 
and did other damage. A small company of men, commanded by J. P. Day, went 
from Deer creek to the scene and engaged and defeated the Indians, killing three, it 
was said. The stolen guns, horses, etc., were re-captured. Castleman, a member of 
the company, was slightly wounded. The affray occurred on the second of December- 
The Indians were probably Cow Creeks, a band of disaffected natives, who were actu- 
ated by hostility to the whites, but did not, it appears, feel sufficiently warlike to join 
Limpy and George on the banks of Rogue river. 

Some few of the peaceable, yet wretched and debased family of the Umpquas, 
resided in and around the pleasant vale of Looking-glass, and these, true to their 
harmless instincts, refrained from war throughout the troublous times of the conflict 
in the south, and sought by every humble act to express their dependence on and lik- 
ing for the whites. AVhen war broke out on Rogue river, these inoffensive people were 
gathered in Looking-glass valley, occupying a rancheria on the creek of that name, 
where they lived at peace with all the world, and ignorant and careless of everything 
outside of their own little sphere. Mr. Arrington was nominally their agent and pro- 
tector. In an evil hour — for them — certain white people of that vicinity, who imag- 
ined that they were dangerous neighbors, organized themselves into a company, and 
fell suddenly upon the helpless little community, and scattered them to the four winds 
of heaven. Several men were killed ; and one old squaw, in whom old age and rheu- 
matic bones defeated nature's first law of self-preservation, died, a victim, unmeant 
perhaps, but still a victim, and slain by white men's bullets. The date of this trans- 
action is at hand ; and proof of all its particulars ; but like other wrongs and much 
violence done that race, it best were buried, and only resurrected to serve the truth 
where truth needs telling. 

On Cow creek quite a series of disturbances occurred during the winter of 1855-6. 
T v e first of these in brief was the attack on some hog-drovers from Lane county, who 
were traversing the road. H. Bailev was killed instantlv, and Z. Bailev and three 
others wounded. The Indians burned on that day (October 24, 1855) the houses and 
barns of Turner, Bray, Fortune, Redfield and one other. Mr. Redfield placed his 
family in a wagon and started for a place of safety, but soon the horses were shot, and 
he took his wife upon his back and carried her to a fortified place. Mrs. Redfield was 
wounded, however, before reaching there. 

The raid of certain Indians through Camas, Ten-mile and Looking-glass valleys 



258 INDIAN WAES. 

is detailed in another part of this volume. This affair occurred in the later months 
of the war. 

Late in March Major Latshaw, of the second regiment, set out on an expedition 
against the Cow Creek Indians, taking with him a portion of the companies of Robert- 
son, Wallan, Sheffield and Barnes. On the twenty-fourth of the month some Indians 
were found at the big bend of Cow creek, and were attacked and routed. Several of 
them were killed or wounded, and one white man, Private William Daley, of Sheffield's 
company, was killed, and Captain Barnes and Privates Andrew Jones, A. H. Wood- 
ruff and J. Taylor were wounded. The Indians dissappeared from the vicinity after 
this defeat, and did not return for a considerable time. These incidents comjmse the 
principal hostile acts which took place in Douglas county. 

The people on Butte creek, in Jackson county, had, with the first alarm of war, 
sought safety in a camp of log houses on Felix O'Neal's donation claim. Several 
families — in fact, nearly the whole population of the country adjoining — made their 
residences there for a time, and carried out measures of defense. Alcorn's company 
was recruited among the hardy settlers thereabouts, and subsequent to their return 
from the first meadows campaign, were posted in jjart at this fortified camp, and served 
to restore j)ublic confidence. Jake, a well-known chief of a small band of Indians, 
with his braves had long inhabited that portion of the country, and had refused to go 
on the reservation. The Indian agent, owing to the smallness of their numbers, had 
never thought it necessary to compel them to go there, and so they were suffered to 
remain, a nuisance, if not a jwsitive danger to the whites. They were said to steal, 
and were not supposed to be above the crime of burning buildings. They dwelt in a 
rancheria, between the Butte creeks. On the night of December twenty-fourth, Cap- 
tain Alcorn, with a part of his men, marched to the rancheria and camped within a 
mile of it, in the cold and snow. At daybreak the next morning the troops moved 
within rifle range, and began to fire. This they kept up until the natives were killed 
or dispersed, their loss being eight "bucks" killed, and the remainder wounded. One 
squaw was wounded in the jaw, and two men were captured. Only four guns were 
taken, but no ammunition, and three stolen horses were recaptured. Old Jake, the 
chief, was not in the fight, and was reported killed by the Shastas. 

A similar affair occurred at the same date between a detachment of Captain 
Bice's company, numbering thirty-four men, and the Indians of a rancheria four 
miles from and on the north side of Rogue river, and just below the mouth of Big 
Butte creek. A night march and an attack at daybreak formed the salient features 
of this affair also, which was likewise completely successful. The Indians were taken 
by surprise, and after several hours' fighting eighteen males were killed, and twenty 
squaws and children captured and the rancheria burned. The Indians, finding them- 
selves surrounded, fought bravely to the last. But one female was injured in the fight. 

On the same day on which the detachments of Alcorn and Rice started out, a third 
one consisting of twenty men of Bushey's company set out on a scouting tour to the 
neighborhood of Williams' creek, where a portion of old John's band were busying 
themselves in many a hostile way, much raised in self-esteem by the partial successes 
of their bold leader since the war began. On the evening of the same day an Indian 
trail was found by a spy party, which was followed the next day by the command, but 



INDIAN WARS. 259 

without finding the rancheria. During the evening a man strayed off and became lost" 
The next day was spent in searching for him under the impression that he had fallen a 
victim to Indian barbarity. However, on the following day news came of his safe 
arrival at Thompson's ranch, on the Applegate, and of his having found a camp of ten 
or twelve Indians, near whom he camped for the night, but escaped unobserved. 
Orders were immediately given for following that trail, and, the command being divided, 
the Indian camp was easily found. The foremost detachment, seven in number, opened 
fire on them and and killed three, putting the rest to flight. No whites were injured. 

Toward the last of December some scouts who happened to be near the forks of 
the Applegate discovered that a body of Indians probably twelve or so in number had 
taken possession of two deserted miners' cabins and had gone into winter quarters there, 
preparing themselves for a state of siege by excavating the floors of the houses and 
piling the dirt against the walls so as to form a protection against rifle bullets. The 
scouts withdrew unseen, and going to Sterling told the news. A body of sixty or more 
miners and others went immediately to watch the cabins and prevent the Indians from 
escaping, while word was sent to various military companies who began to repair to the 
spot. Captain Bushey arrived, and finding the position too strong for his small force 
to take, awaited the arrival of others. Captain Smith sent Lieutenants Hagen and 
Underwood with tw r enty-five regulars and the inevitable howitzer, with the design of. 
shelling the savages out; but the fortune of war was unpropitious. The mule carrying 
the ammunition was so heedless as to fall into a deep creek and be killed, while the 
powder was ruined. More ammunition was sent for, and Lieutenant Switzer with 
sixteen regulars brought it on a mule. This animal was more fortunate; and the regular 
army drew up in front of the cabins and at a safe distance fired a shell which passed 
into or through a cabin and killed, as the records say, two savages. But before the 
howitzer's arrival the Indians had signalized themselves by a strong resistance. They 
had killed a man by a rifle-shot, at a distance of 500 yards — a display of marksmanship 
equal to the best known among the whites. Five whites had been wounded. 

After the shell was fired, the regulars postponed further operations until the 
morrow, as night was near. When they arose the next morning their birds had flown 
and the cages were empty. Quite a force of volunteers had gathered upon the scene. 
There were Captain Bice and his comj)any, from the upper end of Bear creek valley; 
some men of Alcorn's company, a few volunteers from Jacksonville, and a delegation 
from the Applegate. A much regretted event occurred during the day ; this was the 
killing of Martin Angell, of Jacksonville, who set out to accompany the regulars to 
Starr gulch, the scene of the siege. When two and a half miles from Jacksonville, on 
the Cresceut City road, Angell and Walker, who were about two hundred and fifty 
yards in advance, were fired on by Indians concealed in the brush beside the road. 
Angell was killed instantly, four balls passing through his head and neck. Walker 
was not hit, but escaped death narrowly. When the troops came up the Indians had 
stripped the dead man and were just retreating into the brush. On the same day (Jan- 
uary 2,) Charles W. Hull was killed on the divide between Jackson and Jackass creeks, 
his body being soon found by scouts. Deceased was hunting, but becoming separated 
from his friends, was waylaid and murdered by Indians. These occurrences, happen- 
ing so near to the principal town of the whole region, made a very deep impression, 



2G0 INDIAN WARS. 

and there were those who apprehended the greatest dangers from the " red devils." 
But happily these were not realized ; and the clamors of war died from the listening 
ears in Jacksonville. 

The history of the Applegate affair includes still another chapter. After it was 
found that the Indians had made their escape, the regulars returned to the quiet and 
seclusion of Fort Lane, while Major Bruce, who had arrived upon the field, set out 
with portions of Rice's, Williamson's and Alcorn's companies, to follow up the wily 
strategists who had so valiantly defended their positions, and so unexpectedly escaped. 
Following the trail of the fleeing Indians to the west, the scouts came upon a single 
Indian, who ran at the top of his speed directly to the Indian camp. The savages, 
warned by the shouting of the pursued, prepared for a fight and for quite a while 
resisted that part of Brace's command which came into action, killing one man, Wiley 
Cash, of Alcorn's company, and seriously wounding Private Richardson, of O'Neal's 
company. Some ten or twelve horses, left unguarded by the whites, were taken by 
the Indians, and several more were shot. This fight occurred on the twenty-first of 
January, the locality being Murphy's creek, tributary to the Applegate. Only twenty- 
five men participated at first, but Lieutenant Armstrong came up with a small rein- 
forcement, and after a most plucky fight succeeded in saving the lives of the detach- 
ment. They were surrounded, and being separated from the main body of the troops, 
could not possibly have escaped but for the providential arrival. The total number of 
Indians engaged under the leadership of John was probably about fifty. 

The organization of the "southern army," as it was called, it will be recollected, 
was begun by Colonel Jonh E. Ross. For some reason hard to make out, but certainly 
not from any reasonable cause, the command of the volunteers on Rogue river was, 
by proclamation of the governor, dated October 20, 1855, placed in the hands of two 
officers each with the rank of major, and possessing distinct commands. This notable 
piece of strategy proved not to succeed well, owing to causes which anyone could have 
foreseen, and after its ineffectiveness became apparent to the governor and his prime 
minister, Adjutant-General Barnum, the two battalions were united and elevated to 
the dignity of a regiment, and an election of colonel, lieutenant-colonel and majors 
was ordered for December seventh. Robert L. Williams was chosen colonel. This 
officer had attained a deserved reputation as an "Indian fighter," and was popularly 
supposed to be devoid of fear. His qualifications for the office consisted in a highly 
developed hatred of Indians, a thorough knowledge of their tactics, and the liking of 
his fellow-soldiers, who had elected him triumphantly over Bruce and Wilkinson, both 
efficient commanders. W. J. Martin became lieutenant-colonel, whose command was 
to be the "right column," which was a newly invented name for the northern battal- 
ion. James Bruce remained as major, commanding the "left column" (southern 
battalion), and Charles S. Drew continued in his place as adjutant. Colonel Williams' 
regiment was officially styled the second regiment of the Orgeon mounted volunteers, 
and consisted at the time of the colonel's election, of the companies of Captains Bailey, 
Buoy, Keeney, Rice, O'Neal, Wilkinson, Alcorn, Gordon, Chapman and Bledsoe, the 
aggregate on paper being 901 rank and file, but the effective force was much less. 
This imposing force lay the greater part of the winter separately stationed at various 
jioints wherever their services w T ere required as guards. Occasionally something 



INDIAN WARS. 2G1 

occurred to break the stagnant routine of camp life, but not often. An Indian raid 
might be expected, else the "war would have lost all attraction. The main body of the 
army, lying in what is now Josephine county, centered at Vannoy's as their head- 
quarters. The right column remained about the southern boundary of Douglas county. 

Almost the only interesting bit of information of a jocular character which survives 
to this day is the memorable trip of Captain Keeney from his post to the verdure-clad 
]ilains of the Willamette. Captain Keeney was dissatisfied with guard duty. He hun- 
gered for a sight of the hills of Lane county. He applied to Colonel Williams for a 
furlough, but his commanding officer refused, saying no furloughs would be granted 
until the last Indian in Southern Oregon was killed. The Captain persisted; the 
Colonel told him to " go to grass." Captain Keeney returned to his command and 
indignantly related the story of his wrongs, when a private suggested, "He probably 
meant the Willamette; that's the only grass we've seen." The Captain, elated, said, 
"Boys, shall we go to grass?" The answer was unanimously affirmative. They broke 
camp, a hundred strong, arrived in Eoseburg December 27, and were in sight of their 
own homes in time to wish their friends a happy' new year. The joke was a good one; 
but Lieutenant-Colonel William J. Martin failed to see it as such. He made it a part 
of his official business to prefer charges against the home-sick farmers who found the 
war so different from their joyous anticipations. This stern martinet accused Captain 
Keeney of disobedience to orders, abandoning his position in face of the enemy, " uni- 
form ungentlemanly conduct," and other like charges of formidable tenor. The gov- 
ernor suspended him, but at a later date, as we perceive, the company with their cap- 
tain were restored to all the rights and privileges pertaining to the most obedient, 
steady and reliable of soldiers. 

In this time of monotony and ennui charges and counter-charges (verbal) were fre- 
quent. In February, Major Bruce incensed by the torpor of the volunteers, addressed 
a communication to Governor Curry, preferring charges against Colonel Williams for 
inactivity, failure to make public certain orders addressed by the Governor to the 
troops, etc. Captains O'Neal, Rice, Alcorn, and Wilkinson, also api^ended their names 
to these charges, whose outcome was the appointment of a brigadier general, to shoulder 
the responsibility which Williams was unequal to. These charges were based on the 
latter's supposed partiality toward a certain clique of speculators who were thought at 
the time and since, to be using their influence to prolong the war in order to further 
their pecuniary object. The whole subject of the war is entangled throughout with 
political and financial relations that are exceedingly difficult to unravel, and seem to 
ill repay the investigator, but nevertheless are so intermingled in people's minds with 
the cause of the war that it would be impossible to enter upon an examination without 
giving offense to those whose opinions are already formed. These chapters are written 
in the firm belief that hostilities with the aborigines were unavoidable, which it requires 
no very deep reasoning to make apparent. Wherever the Caucasian and the American 
Indian have come in contact, war and bloodshed have resulted. Even in the remote 
Eastern States, w T here the Pilgrim Fathers made head against opposing man and nature, 
the red men were the first and their worst enemies ; and even their Puritanical prin- 
ciples could not avoid a war of extermination. Then from analogy we declare that 
the removal of the Indians from Southern Oregon was a necessity. We admit its 



262 INDIAN WARS. 

inexpediency, while on sentimental grounds we commiserate the unhappy and unfor- 
tunate humans whom ill-starred fate drove from a land which was theirs by the right 
of long possession. 

Sometime in the last days of January Colonel Williams removed the headquarters 
of the army to Charles Drew's farm, known as Forest Dale, near Jacksonville, and 
began the construction of barracks, stables and other buildings suitable for his pur- 
poses. This measure proved an unfortunate one for him, as it created quite a burst of 
indignation, being thought to be instigated by the owner of the land, whose interests 
would be enhanced thereby. Very soon after J. K. Lamerick was aj^pointed brigadier- 
general, and displaced Williams in the chief command, the latter retaining his rank 
of colonel of the second regiment, subordinate to Lamerick. The new selection does 
not seem to have been a very happy one; it was made at a time when much dissatis- 
faction existed against Lamerick, instigated, probably, by the speculative clique, and 
to add to his embarrassments, the period of enlistment of many men had come to an 
end, and these were receiving their discharges. The work of re-organizing the forces 
was very difficult. Most of the former caj) tains and subordinate officers were preju- 
diced against the new general, and many of these declined to serve under him. The 
inaction of the troops through the winter had given ample ojjportunity for political 
manipulators and others to bias the minds of the troops as they chose, and those small 
politicians looked upon the war as affording a satisfactory opportunity to urge their 
claims for preferment. 

By the middle of February two-thirds of the men had received their discharges, 
and the diminution of the necessary guards made it unsafe, we are told, for anybody 
to travel alone. Indians were seen repeatedly at points before deemed free from them, 
and alarm was felt lest there be a repetition of the sad tragedies of the preceding 
autumn. In this state of affairs General Lamerick removed the headquarters of the 
regiment again to Vannoy's, deeming that a more suitable place than the retired glades 
of Forest Dale. In February the companies of Bailey, Keeney, Gordon and Lewis 
received their final discharge, and those of O'JNTeal, Sheffield, Abel George, Bushey, 
M. M. Williams, Wallan, Robertson and Barnes were enlisted. Of these, Abel 
George and M. M. Williams had commanded companies attached to the ninth regi- 
ment, in the preceding fall; but being mustered out, along with numerous others, they 
had entered the service again at the date named. It was thought that it would be 
difficult to induce a sufficient number of men to enter the service, but these anticipa- 
tions were met by the re-enlistment of nearly every man of the discharged companies, 
and within a few days a sufficient force had been raised to meet all wants. 

The weather continued unpropitious for military movements throughout the 
months of February and March, and whatever strategical operations were then resolved 
upon by General Lamerick were not carried out. The companies remained in winter 
quarters, guarding suspected localities and taking care of themselves. No incidents of 
much importance occurred during the time, the Indians remaining mostly at their old 
haunts upon the lower river, until a-weary of waiting to be attacked. They made 
disconnected attempts at robbery on sundry occasions, wherever arms or ammunition 
were to be obtained; but there is no record of serious loss of life from these raids, until 
the famous one of March twenty-fifth, when Evans' pack-train was robbed, and the 
battle of Eight-dollar Mountain was fought. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE SPRING CAMPAIGN. 



Removal of the Table Rock Band— Their Peaceful Character— A Flag of Truce— The Governor's Proclamation- 
Matters in Illinois Valley— A Pack-train Taken by Indians— Battle of Eight-dollar Mountain— Election of 
Officers of the Second Regiment— A Grand Campaign Resolved Upon— March to the Meadows— Arrival at 
the Little Meadows— Reconnoissances in Force— The Enemy Found on Big Bar— A Plan of Attack— The 
Indians Retire— The Army at the Bar— Fort Lamerick Built— The Army Goes Home— Results. 

Subsequent to the events just detailed, a transaction of considerable importance 
took place at the reservation across the river from Fort Lane. This was the removal 
of Chief Sam's band to the coast reservation west of the Willamette valley. It was 
mentioned in treating of the Indian outbreak of the ninth of October, that the Table 
Rock band took no part in those proceedings. On the contrary, the members of that 
band crossed the river to Fort Lane, and besought the protection of Captain Smith, 
assuring him of their peaceful feelings and deprecating the possible and ever probable 
violence of the white settlers, which, but for such protection, would surely have 
befallen them. During the succeeding months they remained under the immediate 
care of Captain Smith and Agent Ambrose (successor of Culver), and gave not the 
remotest cause for suspicion on the part of the whites. Chief Joe, celebrated as the 
foremost member of the Rogue River tribe, was dead. For a long time he had wielded 
with his brother the divided authority of the tribe. He had been eminent in council ; 
he was not a despicable enemy in battle. He died at his lodge at the lower end of 
Big Bar not long after the Lane treaty was signed- Notwithstanding the loss of their 
wisest counsellor, the band remained true to the agreements made in 1853, and with a 
striking devotion to their word, refrained entirely from giving aid or countenance to 
the hostiles, in spite of the utmost inducements to a contrary course. The whole 
annals of Indian wars have nothing more admirable than the truth and firmness with 
which these sorely troubled yet constant barbarians maintained the honor of their 
obligations. Finally, when the bureau of Indian affairs had decided to remove all the 
natives from Southern Oregon, the Table Rock band — being with the Umpquas, the 
only Indians accessible to authority — were sent to the permanent reservation about 
Yaquina bay. Such was the state of public sentiment that a guard of one hundred 
soldiers was deemed necessary in order to protect this little remnant on their progress 
northward. And this, notwithstanding the fact that by their friendship for the whites, 
they had incurred the enmity of all the hostile Indians on Rogue river. The people 
of the Willamette valley, jealous of the removal of such celebrated warriors into their 
neighborhood, and scarce understanding the situation of affairs, called loudly for the 
citizens to raise an armed force to resist their coming, and exterminate them; but the 
excitement soon calmed, and the Indians found a final home by the shores of the 
Pacific. 



264 INDIAN WARS. 

Equally illustrative of the tone of public feeling, was a circumstance which hap- 
pened about the middle of February, a little time subsequent to the departure of the 
Table Rock band. At this time Chiefs Limpy and George, with about thirty warriors 
well armed, and mounted on horses, some of which carried two braves and others 
three, came up from the Meadows carrying flags of truce, and camj>ed on the reserva- 
tion opposite Fort Lane. They sent a messenger to Captain Smith to announce their 
arrival and desire for a talk. Their object was not to make peace, but to secure the 
surrender of some squaws who were in the hands of the agent. The news of their 
arrival got abroad instantly, and the various volunteer companies assembled at Forest 
Dale in haste, no one yet understanding the circumstances, but all inquiring as to the 
purpose of the invasion. Messengers went to the fort and were informed that the 
regulars would not allow the Indians to be molested in consequence of their coming 
under a flag of truce, as these same Indians had respected that symbol on a certain 
occasion. The law of nations and the regular army prevailed in spite of threat, and 
the savages returned unmolested to their lair. The Sentinel published a fiery editorial 
against the United States troops, and refused to be pacified. "We are informed by 
Major Bruce that Captain Smith said that if anyone fired upon the Indians, he would 
return the fire. We would ask if our citizen soldiery are to be intimidated by the 
threat of any one from avenging the innocent blood that these savages have caused to 
flow?" This sort of rhetoric did the Indians no hurt; but it proved very expensive to 
those who furnished army supplies. 

Returning to our main subject, we find that the Illinois Indians, previously at the 
Indian encampment at the Meadows on Rogue river, had become tired of the monotony 
of life sufficiently to induce them to make trips to their old hunting grounds in search 
of plunder, and excitement. On the twelfth of February they killed John Guess in 
his field on Deer creek, leaving him dead in the furrow. On the morning of March 
24, news came to Vannoy's that the enemy had ambushed and killed two travelers, 
Wright, Yannoy's partner, and Private Olney, of O'Neal's comj)any,who were encamped 
at the foot of Eight-dollar mountain, and that the attacking party had at a later hour 
met another party consisting of five men, and mortally wounded John Davis. Orders 
were at once sent by Major Bruce to the various companies of his battalion to repair 
instantly to Fort Vannoy. Captain Hugh O'Neal, who with his company was nearest 
to the scene of action, had immediately set out for Hays' ranch, or Fort Hays, as it was 
called. Hoping to reach there before the Indians could do so, as that post had but few 
defenders. A sharp skirmish ensued when within a few hundred yards of the post and 
private Caldwell was mortally wounded, and some pack mules loaded with provisions 
etc., were taken by the Indians, who besieged the fort after the volunteers had taken 
refuge within it. The enemy abandoned the ground, during the night, and returning 
along the road southward, met and attacked Evans' pack-train which was coming from 
Crescent City. They killed a Mexican packer, and wounded "Big Dave." Evans 
escaped to Reeves' farm, but the mules and packs were all captured by the marauders, 
who gained a large amount of ammunition by the capture. On receiving the news of 
this late attack, Lieutenant- Colonel W. W. Chapman (recently elected to that office) 
ordered Major Bruce to attack the enemy with all his available force. There were per- 
haps 1 25 men who proceeded under the Major's orders to the scene of Evans' misfortune. 



m 

CO 



c-j 
m 



CO 

c5 

z 
o 
r- 
CO 

CT3 

a 

C"3 



3> 
CD 

CT3 




■- 
IIP 



'■■"** : aBSi 






\^' 



INDIAN WARS. 



265 



The foremost of these engaged the enemy while yet the remainder were dismounting. 
All horses were left at the foot of the hill which it was necessary to ascend to find the 
enemy ; and a long line of battle, reaching several hundred yards along the side of 
the mountain, was formed and the troops advanced up the rise. Private Collins led 
the way up but was shot dead when near the top, falling in the road. John McCarty 
was also shot, dying soon after, and Private Phillips was mortally wounded. Abel 
George's men dismounted, and tying their horses to a fence, started up hill on the side 
next Deer creek, intending to outflank the Indians, while Captain M. M. Williams 
engaged them in front, assisted by members of Alcorn, Rice's (Miller's) and other 
companies. Major Bruce with about fifty men kept along the road to the place where 
Collins fell. The battle was now a lively one ; the rattle of rifles and revolvers was 
almost continuous, and frequent attempts were made by each party to charge the other- 
All sought cover, and there was little chance for life for the man who neglected thus to 
protect himself. At this interesting juncture a shout was raised that the Indians were 
making off with the horses, left at the foot of the hill. A number of the savages, spy- 
ing the condition of affairs ran hastily to the spot and mounting some and leading 
others, escaped with some fifteen of the animals belonging to Abel George's Yreka 
company. 

The most of the fighting for a time was clone by M. M. Williams and about a score 
of his bravest men, who stood their ground valiantly, and only retreated when the 
Indians had nearly or quite surrounded them. Alcorn's men and others fought well, 
also, but the general applause was marred by the conduct of a great many who either 
ran away during the fight, or else could not be brought into it at all. Over 200 men 
were within sound of the firing, but not one half that number took any part in the fight, 
and j)robably not over fifty engaged in it with energy and resolution. A hundred or 
more of the readiest fighters ever known among the Indians of this continent held with 
determination the hill and the thick woods and successfully barred the way. Against 
this force the volunteers effected nothing. Shortly they began to retire, and gaining 
the base of the hill, they mounted and returned to Fort Hays, hardly yet sensible of a 
defeat. The Indians withdrew in their characteristic manner and hostilities for the 
time were over. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Chapman now established a permanent camp at Fort Hays, 
making it the headquarters of the companies of Alcorn, George, O'Neal, Wilkinson 
and Williams, and of himself, Major Bruce and Regimental Surgeon Douthitt, 

On the eighteenth of March, 1856, an election was held in the various camps of the 
second regiment, and John Kelsey became colonel of the regiment in place of Williams, 
W. W. Chapman succeeded W. J. Martin as lieutenant colonel, and James Bruce and 
W. L. Latshaw were elected majors of the two battalions. The respective positions of 
the battalions remained unchanged or nearly so, that of Bruce being stationed in the 
Illinois and Rogue river valleys, while that of Latshaw occupied various posts in the 
southern part of Douglas county, notably Fort Sheffield, so-called, on Cow creek, a 
post in Camas valley, Fort Leland, on Grave or Leland creek, Fort Relief and other 
points considered to be of strategical importance. The total force of the second regi- 
ment, as appears by the rolls, Avas 807 non-commissioned officers and men, commanded 
by fifty-one commissioned officers inclusive of the staff. 

35 



266 INDIAN WAKS. 

With a portion of this force General Lamerick set out in April for an active cam- 
paign to the Big Meadows, on Rogue river, then recognized as the rallying point and 
base of supplies of the entire horde of hostiles, known to number at least 250 and 
popularly supposed to be twice as numerous. Having collected all his available force 
at the mouth of the Apjxlegate, the General appointed a day of parade, and fixed upon 
the fourteenth of April as the day for setting out upon the proposed expedition. On 
the morning of that day the army set out, under the immediate command of Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Chapman, who proceeded in advance with one hundred men, guided by 
the scouts of Lewis and Bushey. A very long pack-train came next, and Major Bruce 
brought up the rear with the remaining volunteers. A herd of beef cattle was driven 
along as a part of the commissariat, to be drawn upon as occasion required, and ample 
provision had been made for anticipated emergencies, even to supplying a couple of 
canvas boats, portable and collajisable, to be used in crossing the river. Shovels for 
constructing roads were supplied, and twenty-five days' rations were taken, besides 100 
rounds of ammunition for each soldier. General Lamerick announced his intention 
to remain out until the Indians were completely conquered, or until the army had to 
return for j)rovisions. 

The southern battalion marched down the south side of Rogue river, and in two 
or three days reached Peavine mountain, some twelve miles from the Little Meadows 
of Rogue river, the objective point of Colonel Kelsey's command. This latter 
division fitted out at Fort Leland, on Grave creek, and set out on or about the seven- 
teenth of Aj)ril and arrived safely at their destination within two or three days, having 
come via Whiskey creek. No enemy was met upon the route but shortly after halting 
at the end of their march the pickets were fired upon by concealed Indians, whom a 
diligent search failed to discover. The country over which each detachment passed 
was thoroughly " scoured" by large numbers of scouts, and Indian " sign" in abundance 
was found, but the wily savages retired secretly before the army, and made no stand. 
On April twenty-seventh, three men, McDonald, Harkness, and Waggoner, express 
riders between Lamerick's command and Fort Leland, were attacked by Indians at 
Whiskey creek, and Harkness, a partner of James Twogood, in the Leland Creek House 
(otherwise called the Grave Creek House), was killed. His body was found horribly 
mutilated. 

Captain Barnes, of the spy company, reconnoitered during the halt at the Little 
Meadows, and found the Indians in large numbers, scattered in the rough, mountainous 
and brushy country between the camp and the Big Meadows, which lie below the 
Little Meadows, and also the north side of the river. Major Bruce being communi- 
cated with, his battalion was ordered up, and he joined forces with Colonel Kelsey, the 
total force gathered there being 535 officers and men. The camp was on a high bench 
or terrace, two miles north of the river and a thousand feet above it. A breastwork of 
pine trees was formed, enclosing a space sufficient for camping purposes, and there 
being an abundance of grass and water near, the locality was well adapted for that 
purpose. The Indian encampment was found to be on a large bar on the south side of 
the river and some three miles below. The Big Meadows were deserted by them, and 
the intervening country contained none except those doing duty as scouts. On the 
twenty-third Colonel Kelsey with 150 men made a reconnoissance toward a suspected 



INDIAN WARS. 



267 



point, but without results, and on the same day Major Bruce at the head of a like 
force, started to descend the slope toward the bar. At a distance of a mile from camp 
a creek was arrived at, beyond which were collected a considerable number of Indians, 
but these being beyond rifle range, and Major Bruce's instructions not allowing him to 
attack, no fighting was done, and the detachment having plainly seen the Indian 
village on the bar, returned to camp. During the following days until the twenty- 
seventh, considerable reconnoitering was done, and a brush with the enemy took place, 
without result. The Indians were thought to number several hundred, including 
women and children, and were found to be as actively employed in scouting as were 
the whites themselves. 

At a council of war ordered by General Lamerick it was resolved to attack the 
enemy in his stronghold on the bar; and to do this effectually and at the same time 
prevent the Indians from escaping over the mountains in their rear, Major Bruce was 
ordered to cross to the south side of the river and march to a point where they could 
be intercepted in case of flight. The other battalion under Colonel Kelsey in person 
was to proceed westward from the encampment, and gaining the summits opposite the 
Indians' position, was then to march down the steep declivity directly in their front 
and attack them from across the river. The southern battalion duly arrived at the 
point where they were to cross, but the two canvas boats being launched, the men 
declined to enter them, alleging that the Indians might easily sink them by rifle shots, 
or failing in that, might massacre the few who would be able to land. Major Bruce's 
authority was insufficient to compel them to obedience, and the plan was abandoned. 
It does not appear that any Indians had been seen by the battalion on their march to 
the river, nor does it seem likely that any considerable number of them, if any, were 
in the neighborhood, their total force probably having been at that hour at their 
rendezvous on the bar, three miles below. This is a fair example of the difficulties 
met with by the officers at that time. Such a state of insubordination prevailed that 
it rendered all plans nugatory. Every private thought himself entitled to reason upon 
his superior officer's commands, and to refuse compliance if they seemed injudicious. 
Under such circumstances it is no wonder that such a large force accomplished so 
little. 

Major Bruce being compelled to remain on the north side of the river, concluded to 
niDve down stream and join Colonel Kelsey at the bar. Meanwhile, this commander had 
reached a point on the declivity nearly opposite his objective point, and started directly 
down hill, following a ridge which afforded comparatively little obstruction to his 
advance. In this he was much favored by a heavy fog which rested upon the hills, 
utterly obscuring his every movement from the Indians. Thus he was enabled to 
arrive nearly at the river before they discovered his whereabouts. The detachment 
was now formed in order of battle, and all rushed down and took position on the bank 
of the river facing the Indian encampment on the bar, and opened a continuous fire 
upon the enemy. The savages were thrown into confusion by the sudden attack, and 
did not return the fire for some time. The women and children, the former carrying- 
heavy packs, soon left the camp and passed up the hill toward the Illinois river, while 
the greater part of the males sought shelter in the edge of the fir woods behind their 
encampment, and watched the movements of the whites. Major Bruce arrived with 



268 INDIAN WAES. 

his command, and taking a position on the left of the northern battalion, began firing 
at the enemy, who, however, were in positions of comparative safety. Desultory and 
ineffectual firing was kept up all day, but no means of crossing the river being at 
hand, nothing could be done to complete the victory. It is supposed that quite a 
number of Indians were killed, while the only loss to the whites was the severe 
wounding of Elias Mercer, of Wilkinson's company, who, on being removed to Rose- 
burg, died upon the way. John Henry Clifte also sustained a severe wound, but 
recovered. 

In the evening the whole force went into camp at the Big Meadows, on the north 
side of the river and six miles below the former camp. On the following morning 
Colonel Kelsey and Major Latshaw with 150 men went to a point on the river two miles 
below the bar, with the expectation of crossing to the south side and " scouring " the 
country thereabouts. At the same time Lieutenant-Colonel ChajDman with 100 men 
marched to the battle-ground of the previous day to engage the enemy if they were still 
there, with the object of diverting their attention from the movement below. The 
former command found Indians scattered along the shore, who showed fight and "moved 
further into the brush and set up a considerable hallowing," consequently the detach- 
ment did not cross. The casualties of the day were, as might be judged, very light. A 
private of Sheffield's company was wounded, and one or two Indians were thought to 
be hit, but the latter is very doubtful. About twelve o'clock the Indians "withdrew 
beyond range of our guns, and deeming it impracticable to cross the river at this point 
we drew off the command and returned to camp." Lieutenant-Colonel Chapman had 
found no Indians at the bar, so he returned, probably also thinking it impracticable to 
cross. Major Bruce had " scoured " in the direction of John Mule creek with 100 men 
and he also returned unharmed. 

On the twenty-ninth Captain Crouch, with his company, left for Roseburg, via. 
Camas valley, ,to escort the wounded to the hospital. The remainder of the regiment 
broke camp and occupied the bar where the Indian encampment had stood, and met 
with no resistance in so doing. The scouts reported that the Indians had all left the 
vicinity and that the remains of seventy-five camp-fires existed on the mountain side 
above the bar, making the spot where they encamped on the night following Colonel 
Kelsey's attack. On the thirteenth the command remained at the bar on account of 
bad weather, and Captain Lewis' spies reported that the Indians had gone down the 
river. "The provisions now being nearly exhausted, and the weather continuing so 
unfavorable, it was considered impracticable to follow the enemy over the rough ground 
before us, which was covered with snow, and many of the soldiers were already nearly 
barefooted." On the first of May, the troops re-crossed the river, Captains George and 
Bushey proceeded immediately to Grave creek, while the rest camped at the Big Mead- 
ows, at a place selected as the site of a permanent fort. Williams, Wilkinson, Keith, 
Blakely and Barnes' companies were detailed to remain there, the remaining com- 
panies setting out for home the next day. Captains Sheffield and Noland with their 
men went to Roseburg via. Camas valley, and Robertson, Wallan, Miller (Rice's), 
O'Neal, Alcorn and Lewis' companies marched to Fort Leland, the headquarters of 
the northern battalion, which they reached on the fourth of May. 



INDIAN WARS. 2G9 

If we sum up the fruits of this, the Second Meadows Campaign, we shall find that 
they equal those of the first. To descend to details, we find that the army " scoured " 
a large tract of wild country, consumed twenty-five clays' rations in two weeks, drove 
the Indians from their place on the har to another place in some unknown region, and 
returned to civilization. It is useless to enter into any long explanations of why such 
slight results were attained. It must have been partly the insubordination of the troops, 
who while nominally under the command of their general, colonel, lieutenant-colonel, 
four majors and unlimited captains and lieutenants, domineered shamefully over these 
officers and acted their own pleasure in times of emergency. It is difficult to under- 
stand why these individuals retained their commands under such discouraging circum- 
stances, and why their own self-respect did not impel them to quit their charges in dis- 
gust. Some curious and amusing incidents, whose record has come down to us, will 
illustrate the spirit of insubordination which so injured the army's usefulness. After 
General Lamerick had planned the fight at the Meadows and had given Major Bruce 
the order to cross the river, one of the latter's men said, "Look here, Gen'ral; this ain't 
gwine ter do. Jest as sure as we cross thar, some of us will git hit. Don't yer know 
we got one man killed tryin' ter cross thar afore?" Eather more encouraging was a 
reply to one of Major Bruce's commands to charge, "Yes, We say charge, and we'll 
chalk you out a damned good charge, Major!" There is no question of the individual 
bravery of those men. As expressed by one who was among them — a coward had no 
chance. A more daring set could not have existed than these miners and settlers. 
Their experience had made them the most self-reliant men that the world contained. 
But the peculiar circumstances surrounding them, the fact of their officers being raised 
from the ranks and being consequently regarded as no better than anybody else, 
wonderfully impaired their efficiency and reliability. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE WAR IN CURRY COUNTY. 

Character of the Indians— Tribal Designation— Number— Incidents— Coquille Massacre— Killing of Buford, Haw- 
kins and O'Brien— The Natives Remain Peaceable— Captain Poland and His Company — Character of Enos — 
Massacre at Gold Beach— The Survivors Take Refuge in a Fort — Other Casualties — Seeking for Help — The 
Crescent City Company — Views of General Wool— A Military Campaign Planned — Arrival of Regular Troops 
Captain Smith Descends the River — Actions With the Indians — Volunteer Companies. 

Having now brought the detail of events down to the end of the second meadows 
campaign, it will be necessary to retrograde in order that a connected account of 
of affairs in a totally distinct region may be given, and their bearing upon the main 
features of our story be understood. The coast of Carry county had become known to 
Americans through the energetic explorations of Captain Tichenor and others in 
1850 and 1851. The gold-bearing sand along the beaches was examined a few years 
later, and during the half-dozen years next following its discovery the region became 
a mining locality of considerable importance. Several hundred miners had, by the 
fall of 1855, gathered near the mouth of Rogue river, and together with the traders 
and others incidental to mining communities, made up a considerable population. 
These people lived mainly at the mouth of Rogue river, and held communication with 
the outer world by way of San Francisco, accessible by steam and sailing vessels, and 
with Crescent City by means of a much traveled road along the coast southward. The 
mouth of Rogue river is sixty-one miles north of Crescent City, Pistol river is twelve 
miles south of Rogue river, and Chetco, nearly upon the California state line, is 
twenty-five miles south. Some thirty miles north of the Rogue river is Port Orford, 
celebrated as the place where the first landing and settlement upon this portion of 
the coast was made, and where the first people to land sustained a memorable siege 
by Indians. Port Orford was, during the Indian wars, a military post of the United 
States army. No communication, or scarcely any, was carried on along the coast 
northward from Curry county, nor was it considered accessible from the eastward. 
Rough and impassable ranges of heavily wooded mountains cover almost the entire 
surface of the country and approach so near to the coast as to almost cut off travel by 
the sea shore. On the east these mountains penetrate to the Illinois, the Applegate 
and Cow creek. Among their defiles meander streams to whose beds the sunlight 
never penetrates. Steep hillsides and bushy canyons block the path of the adventur- 
ous explorer who would fain force his way among them, and roaring streams, swollen 
by winter's rains to an impassable height, impede the progress of man or animal. 
Among these mountains roamed the elk, deer, bear and smaller game in profusion. 
In the open glades and by the sides of the cool streams grew the salmon berry, and 
many edible roots. In such a region existence was an easily solved problem, and a 
numerous race of Indians gave proof of its solution. 






INDIAN WARS. 271 

Here resided the To-to-tin, a numerous people, related to the Rogue Rivers 
and Klamaths. Their northern limits were at Coos hay ; toward the south they reached 
Chetco. They were divided into twelve hands, of whom eight lived along the coast, 
being the Yasomah, at the mouth of the Coquille ; the Quah-to-mah, on Mores creek ; 
Sixes (first called Shix) river and Port Orford ; the Co-sut-hen-tan, near the Three 
Sisters ; the Eu-qu-ach-ces, along the coast from Port Orford to Rogue river ; the Tah- 
shutes, southward of the river ; next the Chet-less-un-tun, or Pistol Rivers, about the 
mouth of that stream ; the Wisli-te-not-ins south of the Pistol Rivers, and north of 
the Chetcoes (Che-at-tee), who were the southernmost tribe. On Rogue river were 
the To-to-tins, who gave their name to the whole tribe ; the Mack-a-no-tins lived 
above, and the Shista-koos-tees still higher up stream, or about the mouth[of the 
Illinois. At the forks of the Coquille dwelt the Cho-cre-ten-tan band. All these 
divisions were small ; the Chetcoes, the most numerous, numbering but 242 in the sum- 
mer of 1854, while the total number of Coast Indians was 1230, of whom 448 were 
men. 

On the resignation of Judge Skinner in 1853, Samuel H. Culver became Indian 
agent for Southern Oregon, and resided for a part of the time at Port Orford. The 
government had decided upon the removal of the To-to-tin tribe to a reservation, but 
with the usual delay of governmental matters this was not carried out in time to avoid 
the great catastrophe. In 1854Isaiah L. Parrish became agent and made the enumer- 
ation of the Coast Indians, whence the above statistics are taken. There is nothing 
distinctive or peculiar about the intercourse of these people with the whites who came 
into the country ; they received the usual treatment accorded the Indian by the Cau- 
casian. With rather more than ordinary patience and humility they endured the 
encroachments of the higher civilization, and lived on calmly in their smoky hovels, 
spearing the salmon and gathering mussels, until their outbreak in 1856. From a 
long list the following incidents have been extracted, to show whatever they may of 
the situation of affairs along the coast previous to that date. The report of the com- 
missioner of Indian affairs for 1854, states that on or about the fifteenth of February, 
J 854, one Miller, with several accomplices from Smith river, killed fifteen Chetcoes, 
residing at the mouth of the river of that name, because these Indians interfered with 
the profits of a ferry which he was running. They transferred white passengers in 
their canoes, thus competing in a manner unacceptable to Miller. By another source 
we are told that Miller was subsequently indicted for the killing and sentenced to two 
years in the penitentiary. But this assertion is too wildly improbable for belief. It 
had no precedent, and has no subsequent counterpart. The only case in our knowl- 
edge that bears a resemblance was that of a white man named Thompson, who was 
indicted for murdering an Indian on Galice creek some time in 1854. The defendant 
made his escape before his case came to trial and left the country. 

On a previous page in this book the " Coquille massacre" was referred to. This 
was the work of forty miners and others living near the mouth of the Coquille, who 
killed sixteen Indians who were accused of having become "insolent" to the whites, 
and specifically of having said " God damn American" in the presence and contrary 
to the dignity of a white citizen of this great republic — of having fired a shot at a 
crowd of whites — of cutting a ferry-boat rope — of riding a white man's horse without 



272 INDIAN WAKS. 

permission — and finally, of having refused to explain these insolent actions. On page 
272 and following, of the Indian commissioner's report for 1854, may be found 
descriptions of the subsequent proceedings of the whites, wherein they demolished an 
Indian village, killed sixteen persons, including a squaw and an infant, and wounded 
several more. These statements having been given by Abbott, leader of the whites, 
no room is left for cavil. 

Another incident of importance has a termination somewhat different from the 
ordinary tale, but is itself very lamentable in its results. On August 26, 1855, James 
Buford, a miner living at the mouth of Rogue river, became involved in a quarrel 
with an Indian, and was shot by the latter, the bullet taking effect in Buford's shoul- 
der. The native was arrested and brought before a justice of the peace, and after a 
partial examination it was resolved to remove him for the night to the council ground, 
and afterwards to Port Orford. There being a considerable number of Indians there- 
abouts, a squad of United States troops was detailed for the service of guarding the 
prisoner, who was taken in a large canoe with his guard. Shortly, another canoe ran 
alongside in the semi-darkness, and from it Buford and two friends, Hawkins and 
O'Brien, fired and killed the prisoner and an Indian who was paddling. Instantly 
the soldiers returned the fire, killing two and mortally wounding the other assailant, 
who retained only sufficient strength to swim ashore, where he died upon the bank. 
This incident, we need not add, created a great deal of excitement, and resulted in a 
war of words against the army which could so quickly take the side of the savages, 
and leave unavenged the wrongs they committed upon the whites. Nevertheless, the 
army was, from the nature of things, opposed to the whites, although they could not be 
said to favor the Indians. Departmental instructions leave the officer commanding a 
military j)Ost no option regarding the treatment of either savage or civilized persons, 
but require him to interpose to restrain, on the one hand, the violence of the nation's 
aboriginal wards, and on the other to resist the action of the whites who may interfere 
unlawfully with them. After the uprising of the Interior Indians under John, Limpy 
and other chiefs, the Coast Indians were solicited to join in the warfare against the 
whites, but the sentiment of the larger portion was for peace, and the overtures of those 
chiefs were rejected. The Buford affair may be allowed to have contributed somewhat 
to produce the hostilities which followed in the spring of 1856, but still greater weight is 
probably to be attached to the success of the malcontents on the river above in resist- 
ing the efforts of their opponents who sought to conquer them. During the early part 
of the winter of 1855-6 symptoms of increasing discontent were noticed among the 
natives, and the condition of affairs was pronounced grave enough to warrant immedi- 
ate measures being taken to preserve peace. An Indian agent for the locality at the 
mouth of the river was considered indispensible, and Ben Wright, the celebrated 
Indian fighter, who had gained a vast experience in the management of the savages, 
and who had sustained intimate domestic relations with various tribes, was, at the 
solicitation of certain people of Yreka and elsewhere, appointed to that post as suc- 
cessor to Mr. Parrish, by Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs for Oregon. 
Wright began his ministrations under favorable auspices and for a time everything 
promised security for the whites, whose fears were not of the most serious cast. The 
military arm was present in the person of Brevet-Major Reynolds, U. S. A., who, with 



I 




IVAUlNO'llTH PORTLAMOO*. 



Rock Cut,one and one-half miles north ofTableRock. 

O&C.R.R. 



INDIAN WARS. 273 

his company of the third artillery, was stationed at Port Orford, the post bearing the 
official designation of Fort Orford. This force, though too small to he of much service 
in time of a real outbreak, still served to maintain order as between the whites and 
natives, and was much relied upon by the infant colony so far away from effective 
help, and so completely at the mercy of the savages. The settlers, of course, were 
atmost entirely men in the prime of life; very few women and children had yet arrived 
in the country — a peculiarly fortunate circumstance as we shall see. Only two or 
throe white families were to be found at the settlement at the mouth of the river, 
called Gold Beach, but many miners abode in small cabins scattered along the banks 
of that stream for several miles upwards from the mouth, and along the sea-coast north 
and south, hut mainly located near the present site of Ellensburg. Three miles up 
the river was Big Flat, where a considerable settlement had been formed, and some 
land brought under cultivation. 

Something had been done in the way of protection against possible outbreaks by 
the formation of a small company of volunteers who were under the command of Cap- 
tain Poland. This company numbered thirty-three men and had been called out by 
the agent and stationed at the Big Bend, some fifteen miles up the river, where they 
served to separate the hostiles above from the peaceful Indians below. Here they had 
a strongly fortified post and were deemed secure from defeat or capture. These troops 
maintained their station until about the first of February, 1856, when they abandoned 
it and joined the main body of citizens at Gold Beach. Wright, observing the growing 
discontent of the natives at this time, put forth every effort to induce them to go peace- 
ably on to the temporary reservation at Port Orford, where they would be safe from the 
attack of ill-disposed whites and the solicitations of hostile Indians. It was still thought 
notwithstanding hints of an outbreak, that the Indians about the mouth of the river 
would be induced to submit to the authority of the superintendent and would eventu- 
ally, without trouble or bloodshed, be removed to some distant reservation. It has 
always been supposed that it was owing to the intriguing of one man that this effect 
was not brought about. This man was an Indian of some eastern tribe — Canadian, it 
was said — and had been with Fremont on his last expedition ten years before. He pos- 
sessed great experience of savage warfare and savage craft and duplicity, of which latter 
qualities he was certainly a master. Enos, called by the Indians Acnes, had become a 
confident of Wright's to the extent of knowing, it is said, all his plans for the peaceful 
subjugation of the Indians. We must confess Ben Wright changed from what fact 
and tradition have described him, if instead of meditating a mighty coup-de-main to 
destroy them, he relied upon negotiations, squaws' enticements and the persuasions of 
an Indian renegrade to accomplish what his arms alone had been want to do. Enos, 
nominally for Wright, constantly entered the Indian camps, in one of which his wife 
dwelt; and laid with the braves of these coast tribes a far-reaching plan to destroy 
utterly and beyond regeneration the small colony of whites ; and this done, to join the 
bands of savages who were waging war along the upper reaches of the Rogue, and at 
one fell swoop to defeat and drive from the country the invaders who so harrowed the 
Indian soul. Thus large they say his plan was ; but not larger, doubtless, than those 
of other savages, but more nearly being executed than most others, because laid by a 
brain that could contrive and a disposition that made bloody deeds and violence like 

36 



274 INDIAN WAKS. 

balm to his feelings. Many a dangerous and rough enemy the whites had in Southern 
Oregon, but none more dangerous nor capable than this planning and contriving, smil- 
ing and hating foreign Indian, whose treachery cost the sea-cost colony many valuable 
lives and nearly its whole material wealth. 

The first step in Enos' portentious plan was to slaughter Wright and the settlers 
along the coast. On the evening of February 22, having completed his arrangements, 
Enos with a sufficient force of his Indians fell upon the scattered settlement at the south 
side of the mouth of the river, and finding Agent Wright alone in his cabin, entered 
it seen but unsuspected by him, and with an axe or club slaughtered this hero of a 
hundred bloody fights. So died perhaps the greatest of the Indian fighters whom this 
coast ever knew. Concluding this villainy the Indians sought new victims, and during 
the night killed mercilessly, with shot or blows, twenty-four or twenty-five persons, of 
whom the list is here presented, as given by various authorities : Captain Ben Wright, 
Captain John Poland, John Geisel and three children, Joseph Seroc and two children, 
J. H. Braun, E. W. Howe, Barney Castle, George McClusky, Patrick McCollough, 
Samuel Hendrick, W. R. Tullus, Joseph Wagoner, Seaman, Lorenzo Warner, George 
Reed, John Idles, Martin Reed, Henry Lawrence Guy C. Holcomb and Joseph 
Wilkinson. Three prisoners they took — Mrs. Geisel and her remaining children Mary 
and Annie, the three of whom, after suffering the worst hardships at the hands of the 
Indians, were delivered from them at a later date, and now live to recount with tears 
the story of their bereavement and captivity. 

A large portion of the inhabitants thereabouts had gathered on that fateful night 
at the Big Flat to attend a dance given there, and so failed of death ; and on 
the morrow these set out for the ransacked village, and arriving there found that 
the Indians had gone, leaving the fearful remains of the butchery. The corpses were 
buried ; and the remaining population, numbering perhaps 130 men, scantily supplied 
with fire-arms and provisions, hastened to the north bank of the river, and sought 
protection in a fort, so-called, which quite providentially stood there, having been con- 
structed jDreviously by some whites in anticipation of such need. Here the survivors 
gathered and for a time sustained a state of siege with the added horrors of an immi- 
nent death by starvation. Their only communication from without was by means 
of two small coasting schooners which made occasional trips to Port Orford or 
Crescent City. At the former place lay Major Reynolds with a' force scarcely suffi- 
cient to maintain order ; and when the messengers from Gold Beach arrived and 
told their direful tale, the citizens of the post with their families and most valuable 
goods took refuge at the barracks, whence the commander refused to move. He. 
advised an entire abandonment of the settlement at Gold Beach, but as the Indians 
surrounded it and commanded all approaches by land, it was obviously impossible 
for the beleaguered citizens to escape, unless by sea, and that recourse was also cut 
off. Meantime the now aroused savages were not idle. Every dwelling and every 
piece of property of whatever description that fire could touch was destroyed. The 
country was devastated utterly, and only the station of Port Orford remained inhab- 
ited, if we except the fort at the mouth of the river. The buildings at Gold Beach 
were all burned, and an estimate of the property destroyed along the coast fixes the 
damage at $125,000. Subsequent to the first attack a number of other persons were 



INDIAN WARS. 275 

killed by the Indians, these being Henry Builen, L. W. Oliver, Daniel Richardson, 
Adolf Schmoldt, Oliver Cantwell, Stephen Taylor, and George Trickey. By an 
unhappy chance H.I. Gerow, merchant; John O'Brien, miner; Sylvester Long, 
fanner; William Thompson and Richard Gay, boatmen, and Felix McCue, were 
drowned in the breakers opposite the fort, while bringing aid and provisions from 
PortOrford. 

At the same time the messenger proceeded to Port Orford application was made 
to Captain Jones of the regular army, who was stationed at Crescent City, and this 
officer offered the services of twenty-five troops, and except for General Wool's com- 
mands, would have instantly taken the field with that small force and marched to the 
assistance of the besieged citizens. But as we shall see a concerted movement against 
the Indians was about to be made wherein the scattered companies of regulars were 
each to bear a part. The citizens of Crescent City quickly organized a company of 
men, of whom G. H. Abbott was chosen captain ; T. Crook, first lieutenant, and C. 
Tuttle, second lieutenant; and these made preparations for a campaign against the 
Indians and were of much use in the hostilities which followed. The Crescent City 
people appealed to the troops in arms in Jackson county, and then mostly lying inac- 
tive at Vannoys', Fort Hays, Forest Dale, and other places, for assistance in putting 
down this new uprising and saving the lives of the coast people, but without effect, 
since the officers feared the consequences that might follow a withdrawal of any troops 
from the valley. 

The operations of the regular army which resulted in freeing Curry county from 
the presence of hostile Indians, are thus alluded to by Captain Cram. On the ninth 
of November, 1855, General John E. Wool, in command of the military department 
of the Pacific, while on his way to the Yakima country where war had broken out, 
arrived at Crescent City, and there learned of the existence of hostilities in Southern 
Oregon, of the formation of the "southern army" of volunteers, and of the fight at 
Hungry hill. Deeming the volunteers, with the assistance of the few regulars at 
Forts Lane and Jones, sufficient for the occasion, and there being no regular troops 
available for service in this district, General Wool gave himself no further concern 
about the matter, being averse to winter campaigns. General Wool's presence in 
Southern Oregon, says Captain Cram, was exceedingly opportune. He was enabled 
to judge of the measures necessary to be taken by his own command, and acting upon 
the basis of humanity for the Indians and with a due regard for the safety of the settle- 
ments, he instructed commanders of posts to receive and protect such friendly Indians 
as chose to come in and remain at the military posts. These were the precautions 
taken in consequence of "a due regard for the safety of the settlements:" Captain 
Jones, who was posted with his company of fifty men at Fort Humboldt, received 
orders some time during the war to proceed to Crescent City and "protect all supplies 
and public property, also to guard the friendly Indians gathered there by the superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs in Oregon;" and Major Reynolds with his company of just 
twenty-six artillerymen was ordered to remain at Fort Orford, ninety miles above 
Crescent City and thirty miles from Gold Beach, the spot where the Indians' blows 
must soonest fall, and only distant some forty or less miles from the common rendez- 
vous of all the hostiles. It would require no generalship to ascertain the unprotected 



276 INDIAN WARS. 

state of the settlements along the coast. Absolutely no protection, military or natural, 
existed for the community at Gold Beach, excepting that these people had raised, as 
before mentioned, a small company, part of whom were stationed at the big bend of 
Rogue river, some fifteen miles above its mouth and a strategic point, where they acted 
as a guard to prevent the hostiles commanded by John, Limpy and other chiefs from 
communicating Avith or annoying the Indians of Gold Beach district, as before men- 
tioned. Had those indomitable warriors been disposed to attack the coast people, there 
was absolutely no power at hand capable of making a successful resistance. The 
garrison at Big Bend would have been crushed, the friendly Indians scattered, and 
scenes of blood enacted similar to those we have recounted. Why the hostile Indians 
made no such attempt is a subject for speculation; certainly the regular army did 
nothing to prevent it. When spring came, General Wool, "being previously well 
advised as to the topography of the district and of the probable positions of the 
Indians," and having been informed of the imminent danger of the coast settlements, 
proceeded, leisurely enough, to "put in effect a plan for terminating the Rogue river 
war by United States troops." Which war he proposed to terminate thus is not 
known; but it is plain that two separate wars had gone on during the weeks succeed- 
ing the "Ben Wright Massacre" — the one being by the Coast Indians against the coast 
colony, the other by John and Limpy and their bands against the volunteers of the 
southern army. From and after the arrival of the United States troops at the mouth 
of the Bogue, we can only recognize a single contest, the exigencies of war having 
brought about an alliance of the savages, and the mutual though reluctant co-opera- 
tion of the regulars and volunteers. 

The general's plan is thus outlined in reports of the war department : A detach- 
ment of one hundred men had been sent from Fort Lane to guard Sam's band to the 
coast reservation, which left a very small number there for offensive operations. Cap- 
tain Augur's company of the fourth infantry was ordered down from Vancouver to 
Fort Orford to reinforce Major Reynolds, which "would afford troops enough to pro- 
tect the friendly Indians and public stores collected there, and leave another small 
force disposable for the field." Captain Ord's company of the third artillery, stationed 
at Benicia, California, was ordered to be in readiness to embark on the steamer for 
Oregon. Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan, major in the fourth infantry, was 
selected to take charge of the field operations. On March fifth the general embarked 
at San Francisco with Ord's company, Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan, Captain Cram, 
Lieutenants Bonnycastle and Arnold, and Assistant-Surgeon Milhau, for the seat of 
war. On the eighth of March Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan landed at Crescent City 
with Ord's company, and united with Jones' regulars and Abbott's volunteers in a 
vigorous prosecution of the war. General Wool's plan consisted of the conjoined 
action of the troops from Crescent City with those from Port Orford and those of Cap- 
tain Smith, to whom orders had been sent to descend the Rogue river in time to 
co-operate in the work. Captain Abbott, setting out from Crescent City before the 
regulars were ready, encountered the Pistol River and Chetco bands and fought them 
for a day, losing several men who were wounded and Private Miller killed, and ulti- 
mately being surrounded and forced to take refuge behind logs upon the beach. A 
night was spent thus when the regulars, 112 in number, under Captains Jones and 




MULlNG-LITM-POnTt^NO-Oft 



Tunnel No.8, Length, 2,822 feet. 
O&C.R.R. 



INDIAN WAHS. 277 

Ord (E. 0. C. Ord, late a major-general in the United States service, deceased in 
1883), who charged and drove the savages away. Tarrying in the vicinity a few days 
tor the purpose of inflicting a severe lesson on these hostiles, their cam]) was taken by 
the volunteers and the fleeing inmates were met and severely chastised by the regulars. 

On the twentieth of March Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan, with the regulars from 
Crescent City, arrived at the mouth of Rogue river, having left Captain Abbott at 
Pistol river to keep open communications with Crescent City, the base of supplies- 
Operations on the lower Rogue began by an assault upon the Makanootenai rancheria, 
about ten miles up-stream and four or six below Big Bend. Captains Ord and Jones 
took the town, killing several Indians and driving the rest to their canoes. One man, 
Sergeant Nash, was severely wounded. A few days later a detachment of Captain 
Augur's company reached the mouth of Illinois river and found some ten or twelve 
Indians belonging to John or Limpy's band, and fought them. The Indians strove des- 
perately and five of them fell dead before the conflict was decided. Captain Augur had 
thus far failed to effect a junction with his superior officer and after the fight found it 
necessary to return toward Gold Beach. The Indians of the up-river band followed 
him closely, entering his camp as soon as he had abandoned it and whooping, burning- 
loose powder and dancing to testify their joy at his presumed defeat. 

Captain Smith set out from Fort Lane with eighty men — fifty dragoons compris- 
ing his own company, and thirty infantrymen. All of these went on foot, and the 
former carried their musketoons, "an ill-featured fire-arm that was alike aggressive at 
both ends " and which contributed to the inefficiency of that branch of the service as 
much as any cause. However, it is a matter of fact that the United States government 
is always at least a score of years behind the age in the armament of its troops, so the 
reader should not be surprised to learn the peculiarities of the musketoon, the princi- 
pal weapon of mounted troops in that decade. Captain Smith marched down Rogue 
river, up Slate creek to Hays' farm, from thence to Deer creek and thence down Illinois 
river to the Rogue, and encamped a few miles further dowu that stream, having come 
to his destination. 

Negotiations had been in progress for a few days, thanks to the exertions of Palmer, 
superintendent of Indian affairs, and it was hoped that an agreement would be reached, 
at least with the Coast Indians who were now much scattered. Enos, with quite a 
number of his followers, had joined the up-river bands who were lying on the river 
above the Big Bend. Some others had gone to Port Orforcl and jdaced themselves 
under the protection of the military there, and no malcontents were left upon the coast 
save a few Pistol river and Chetco Indians who had not yet been sufficiently pacificated. 
Several actions had taken place at various points along the coast, the results of which 
were calculated to humble the Indians. On the twenty-seventh of March a party of 
regulars were fired upon from the brush while jDroceeding clown the banks of the Rogue, 
whereupon they charged the enemy and killed eight or ten savages, with a loss to 
themselves of two wounded. On April 1, Captain Creighton with a company of citi- 
zens attacked an Indian village near the mouth of the Coquille river, killing nine men, 
wounding eleven and taking forty squaws and children prisoners. These Indians had 
been under the care of the government authorities at Port Orforcl until a few clays before 
the fight and only left that place because some meddlesome whites had represented to 



278 INDIAN WARS. 

them that it was the soldiers' intention to kill them. Consequently they left, and 
Creighton with his men pursued and attacked them. Again, a party of volunteers 
intercepted several canoe loads of Indians near the mouth of the Rogue river and killed 
eleven males and one squaw; one male and two squaws only escaped. On the twenty- 
ninth of April a party of sixty regulars, convoying a pack-train, were attacked near 
Chetco by the remnant of the band of savages of that name, supposed to number about 
sixty, but probably less, and two or three soldiers were killed or wounded. The battle 
ended by the defeat of the natives, who lost six braves killed, and several wounded. In 
the month of April three volunteer companies operated on the coast, and did much 
service in spite of their being badly armed and equipped. These we're the Gold Beach 
Guards, the Coquille Guards and the Port Orford Minute Men. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE WAR ENDED. 

Usefulness of the Volunteers — Council at Oak Flat— Chief John Refuses to Treat — Military Operations— Bat- 
tle of Big- Meadows — Indian Tactics — Arrival of Augur — Movements of the Volunteers — Proclamation 
of Disbandment — The Indians Surrender— At the Reservation — The End — Financial History of the War. 

The Indian occupancy of Southern Oregon was now reaching its last days. The 
soil whereon the red man had trod and from whence arose the smoke of his camp fire, 
was about to pass forever into the possession of an alien race. The stormy scenes of 
the past six years were about to close, and the striving of white and red men had 
reached its climax. Hemmed in on all sides, without resources, without friends, the 
hostile tribes felt ther inability to cope with the organized forces now directed against 
them, and succumbed to the inevitable. Yet they did not relinquish their native land 
without tremendous struggles. The severest conflict of the war was the last. The 
part the volunteers took in the termination of hostilities was very creditable. Major 
Bruce, it will be remembered, was left in charge of the construction of the j)roposed 
fort at the Big Meadows, which was named Fort Lamerick, and was garrisoned by the 
companies of Blakely, Bledsoe, Barnes, Keith, and Noland, (successor of Captain 
Buoy), aggregating rather more than 200 effective men. Being above the position 
occupied by the hostile Indians, Fort Lamerick proved well situated for the purposes 
for which it was held, and being so strongly garrisoned the Indians were effectually 
prevented from re-occupying their old haunts to the eastward. While the troops were 
doing the indispensable duty of confining the savages to the lower part of the river 
the citizens, safely immured in their own houses, were actively engaged in complaining 
that the army did nothing and should be discharged. If there was a time when their 



INDIAN WARS. 279 

services were valuable it was now that Old John and his allies, rendered desperate by 
dearth of provisions and the near approach of the regulars, sought to escape from the 
mountain fastnesses which had been to them a prison. The consequences of a raid by 
these desperate Indians upon the valleys and inhabited places would have exceeded 
any ills yet known or imagined save the massacre of Wyoming, which might again 
have been enacted. In a word, the volunteers rendered the invaluable service of con- 
fining the enemy to a tract of uninhabited country where they could do no damage, and 
from whence it was impossible for them to escape. 

On the twenty-first and twenty-second of May, Superintendent Palmer and the 
commander-in-chief held a conference with the Indians, invitations to all of whom had 
been extended. This is officially known as the Council of Oak Flat, the locality being 
on the right bank of the Illinois river, some three miles above its mouth. Nearly all 
the regular troops were present, making quite a display of force, the aggregate number 
of regulars at hand being about 200. Almost all the hostiles were present, and awed, 
no doubt, by the impressiveness of the spectacle, most of them agreed to surrender on 
a certain day. Not so however with chief John. This undaunted chieftain, when 
called upon to speak, said to Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan : " You are a great chief; 
so am I a great chief; this is my country ; I was in it when these trees were very little, 
not higher than my head. My heart is sick fighting the whites, but I want to live in 
my country. I will not go out of my country. I will, if the whites are willing, go 
back to the Deer creek country and live as I used to do among the whites ; they can 
visit my camp and I will visit theirs ; but I will not lay down my arms and go to the 
reserve. I will fight. Good bye." And so saying, he strode into the forest. 

The result of the negotiations was the agreement of a great many Indians, notably 
the coast bands, to come in and give up their arms at a time and place fixed by the 
superintendent. On or before the twenty-sixth of May they were to assemble at the 
Big Meadows, and be escorted thence to Port Orforcl. The whole of the regular 
troops were at the council, save Ord's company which had been sent to Port Orford to 
escort a provision train to the command at Oak Flat. Reynold's company was sent 
out to'meet the same train, as its safety was very important. On the twenty-fourth 
Captain Smith left Oak Flat with his eighty dragoons and infantrymen to proceed to 
Big Meadows and perform escort duty when the Indians surrendered. He crossed the 
river and encamped on the north side near the place fixed upon for the surrender. On 
the twenty-fifth the chief in command moved from Oak Flat down the Illinois, and 
leaving Jones' company at its mouth, went across the Rogue with Augur's company 
and set about opening a trail for the passage of the surrendered Indians with their 
guard, who were expected the next day. On the evening of May twenty-sixth Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Buchanan with Augur's company was on the north side of the river, 
some few miles from the mouth of the Illinois; Captain Ord was about ten miles west 
of Oak Flat, with the train; Jones was at the mouth of the Illinois; Reynolds about 
ten miles below that point, on the Port Orford trail; Smith at Big Meadows; and the 
main body of the Indians were on the bank of the Rogue, about five miles above Smith. 
The twenty-sixth passed and no Indians came in, but Smith was informed that they 
were delayed by slippery roads, and would be in during the next day. During the 
evening of the same day, George, a well-known chief of the Indians, and previously 



280 INDIAN WARS. 

often spoken of, caused it to become known to Captain Smith that an attack was medi- 
tated on his camp. He instantly set about moving his command to a much more 
secure position an the river between two small creeks entering the main stream from 
the northwest. He occupied an oblong elevation some two hundred and fifty yards 
in length, and about twenty in width. Between this mound and the river is a narrow 
bottom called Big Meadows, but which was not the same locality designated by the 
volunteers as Big Meadows, and whereon stood Fort Lamerick. The latter locality 
is several miles further up the river, and farther removed from the stream. The top 
of the elevation on which CaiDtain Smith was now encamped formed a plateau of size 
sufficient for one company to encamp upon, and is of slight elevation. Directly to the 
north is another elevation of equal height and within. rifle range of the first. Early in 
the morning of the twenty-seventh, Smith sent a messenger to apprise Buchanan of 
his new position, and that the Indians had not come in. He also added to the express: 
"I think Old John may attack me." 

The express reached Buchanan in due time and was sent back to inquire of Smith 
if re-inforcements were desired ; but finding him surrounded with Indians fighting 
actively, the express returned to Buchanan, but getting lost in the night, did not reach 
that officer until the morning of May 28. Buchanan at once ordered Captain Augur 
to re-inforce Smith, and that officer, marching eighteen miles in four and a half hours, 
broke upon the savages and scattered them. The story of Smith's defense against large 
odds is thus told : 

Directly after the departure of the messenger, the savages came in from all direc- 
tions and soon the north mound was covered with them. A body of forty warriors 
attempted to euter camp, but were halted on the spot and told to lay down their arms 
at a certain spot, There being a howitzer planted so as to rake that approach, and a 
body of infantry at hand, the Indians felt it best to retire and consult their chiefs who 
stood upon the northern mound, where John was actively giving orders. At ten 
o'clock in the forenoon the Indians, who had completely surrounded Smith's position, 
made a sudden rush upon it, from both sides; but the}'" were repulsed by the howitzer 
and infantry. John developed all the tactics and strategy of a consummate general in 
his management of these and subsequent charges, and from his station gave commands 
in the Indian tongue, which were distinctly heard in Smith's camp and interpreted to 
the Captain. Implicit and thorough obedience characterized the conduct of his war- 
riors, who fought bravely to carry out their commander's intentions. It was a spectacle 
unparalleled in the annals of savage warfare, to behold a body of undisciplined men 
move obediently to perform the orders of a leader who was not a leader in the sense to 
which these children of the forest were accustomed. Disregarding the traditions of his 
race which impel a chief to perform the most dangerous personal service, John, adopt- 
ing the methods of civilization, confined himself to the more important duty of organ- 
izing and directing his warriors. His method of attack was by means of small-arm fire 
at long range, wherein many of the warriors, particularly of his own band, were adepts; 
charges by the larger bodies of braves ; and unexpected attacks by smaller numbers, 
who sought to gain the mound by scaling the steeper portions where the guard was 
weak. Only thirty of Smith's men had arms adapted to long range shooting, the 
dragoons' musketoons being useless except at close quarters. John's men, on the con- 



- 







-i ■■•II 



tl y« ■ 






1 



■■-!.;■■ »-i 



§ • '? : 



*H&sP^ 




Hi 







WALLlNG-irTH-PORTUAND-OR . 







Looking south from Tunnel No. 8. 
O&G.R.R. 



INDIAN WARS. 281 

trary, possessed excellent pieces and shot effectively from almost incredible distances. 
The battle having been prolonged until night, the Indians drew off and encamped, 
resolved to renew the fight in the morning. Smith occupied his men in constructing 
rifle-pits and building with his camp equipage temporary defences, and in procuring 
water from the river for his thirsty troops. On the following morning the Indians 
again opened fire and continued the battle. Old John put forth all his efforts to seize 
victory, as there was every chance that re-inforcements for Smith would soon arrive, 
when all hope of terminating the war favorably to the Indians would be lost. But 
in spite of his generalship and personal bravery the assaults were successfully repulsed, 
and owing to the improved system of defences, less damage was caused by the sharp- 
shooters upon the north mound. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon the Indians formed in two bodies with the 
intention of attacking both flanks simultaneously, and in force. Just at the critical 
moment of their attack, Captain Augur's company was seen advancing. In conjunc- 
tion with these Smith charged and dispersed the enemy, John and all the rest 
escaping into the woods. Smith's loss was twenty-nine in killed and wounded, the 
most of whom were hit by bullets from the north mound. Says Captain Cram: "The 
number of warriors who arranged themselves under the banner of Old John for this 
last struggle for the defence of their valley was about 400." Aside from the glaring- 
solecism of mentioning Indians as fighting under a banner, this sentence contains the 
important error of ascribing to John's warriors at least twice their actual force. Two 
hundred would probably be nearer the mark, and even this number may be too large, 
as it is well known that the band over which John was chief only numbered from two 
to three score, and all in excess must have been volunteers for the occasion. It is 
reported that the Indians were so confident of capturing Smith and his command that 
the}' provided a number of pieces of rope, corresponding to the number of men in the 
command, wherewith to hang the whites, thereby saving the powder which would be 
required to shoot them ; but several almost convincing objections to the truth of the 
report suggest themselves. They also intended, it is said, to attack the scattered forces 
of Buchanan in detail, and annihilate them before they could effect a junction; a feasible 
plan in view of their wide separation. To prevent any like attempts for the future, 
Buchanan concentrated his forces at the Big Meadows on the thirtieth of May, and 
remained there until the greater part of the Indians had surrendered. 

While Captain Smith was thus contending with John and his warriors, the volun- 
teers some miles up the river were fighting Limpy and George and their j^eople. 
Major Latshaw left Fort Lamerick on January twenty-seventh with 213 men, and 
marched twelve miles down the river and during the next day skirmished w T ith the 
Indians of some rancherias still lower down, killing some and taking fifteen prisoners. 
On the twenty-ninth, the day following John's defeat by Captain Smith, more skirm- 
ishing was done, and H. C. Houston, sergeant in Keith's company, was badly wounded. 
On the following day fighting took place on the south side of the river, between a party 
of volunteers and some Indians, and Private Cooly, of Wallan's company, was 
wounded in the thigh and hand. On the thirty-first Major Latshaw, with 150 
men, moved to Buchanan's headquarters, at Big Meadows. They here found that 
Limpy and George had surrendered with their bands on May twenty-ninth, the day 



282 INDIAN WARS. 

following their fight with the volunteers. They had reported to Buchanan that the 
woods up the river were full of " Bostons," and that they had never seen so many guns 
in their lives. 

On the fifth of June, a great many Indians having already surrendered, General 
Lamerick, finding that the enemy had all left the neighborhood of Fort Lamerick, 
assumed command of his forces in person and moving down the river, encamped at Big 
Bend, where the regulars were lying. The next day a combined movement was made 
down the river by three companies of regulars and Captain Bledsoe's company of vol- 
unteers, and an Indian encampment was destroyed, some twenty or more natives being 
killed or drowned in endeavoring to escape. Two volunteers were wounded. The 
main body of the Indians were encamped on the river about fifteen miles below Big 
Bend, and it was General Lameriek's intention to attack them, but their cabins were 
found deserted when the attacking party arrived. 

Under date of May thirty-first, Governor Curry made proclamation, that as the 
Indians seemed pretty well subdued, the volunteers in the field were ordered to be dis- 
banded, with the exception of Keith's and Blakely's companies, which under the 
command of a major, should remain to protect such settlements as seemed in possible 
danger, and to perform other necessary duties. This order, issued somewhat prema- 
turely, was disregarded by General Lamerick, and we find him in the field a month 
later, no doubt to the vast annoyance of the regular officers, who took to themselves 
the credit of concluding the war and severely blamed the volunteers for harsh treat- 
ment of such Indians as fell into their hands. 

The remaining acts of the citizen soldiery can be briefly told. Major Bruce 
headed an expedition down the coast to the country of the Chetco and Pistol River 
bands, and killed three males and took fifty prisoners. The Indians laid down their 
arms on being fired on, but some retreating to the brush, were ordered to come out, 
which they did. The chief of the Chetcoes was brought in by Captain Bledsoe, 
who distinguished himself by his activity and bravery on many occasions. On June 
twenty-second, Major Latshaw, with Keith, Noland, and Blakely's companies, marched 
from the mouth of the river via Fort Lamerick to Camas prairie and Deer creek, and 
the troops going to Eugene City were there disbanded. General Lamerick, with 
Barnes' company, proceeded to Port Orford, with orders for this organization to be 
mustered out on July first. Captain Bledsoe, with his men, remained in service for a 
short time subsequently. 

On the twentieth of June Chief John sent five of his braves to Buchanan's head- 
quarters to announce that their leader would surrender on the same terms as had 
Limjry, George and other chiefs, but he wished the whites to guarantee safety to 
Enos, who was an object of particular aversion to the volunteers. Enos, within a few 
weeks of the massacre, had joined forces with John, but had been deserted by the 
Coast Indians whose speedy surrender had alienated him from his former associates. 
In this strait he had found a friend in John, whose solicitude in his protege's behalf 
argues a strong vein of humanity in his character. Previously the chief had refused 
all overtures of peace, saying that war suited him sufficiently well, and that in spite of 
the desertion of all the other Indians he would remain in his beloved country and 
fight continually. But by the first of July all the known hostiles had surrendered 



INDIAN WARS. 283 

save a few about Pistol river, and John's own band; and the latter were now deserted 
by a small number of Klamaths, who, loving fighting for its own sake, and doubtless 
attracted by the renown of the celebrated chief whose achievements had become known 
to the Indians throughout Oregon and Northern California, left their too quiet home 
near the lakes, and came to learn the art of war under this savage leader. Deserted 
by these and sated with unequal combats, John surrendered to the regular army, an 
escort of 110 soldiers being sent out to accompany him and his little band of thirty- 
five to Port Orford. 

The objects of the war were now accomplished. The last band of hostile Indians 
had surrendered. On the temporary reservation at Port Orford were gathered about 
1,300 Indians of various tribes, and including all the surviving members of the bands 
which had begun and carried on the war. All the chiefs of note were there; and not 
less than 300 warriors, the like of whom for bravery, perseverance and fighting powers 
have rarely been seen. Their career in arms was now effectually stopped; and it 
remained to remove them from a country where peace for them would be an impossi- 
bility. The coast reservation was fixed upon as their future abode — a tract seventy 
miles long, lying upon the coast of Oregon and extending from Cape Perpetua to Cape 
Lookout, and from the Pacific ocean to the western water-shed of the Willamette. By 
the first of September, 1856, 2,700 Indians had been removed there, including the 
Table Rock band under Chief Sam, who were taken there during the previous month 
of February, while the war was in progress. The Umpquas were removed there also, 
and were remarkable for their industry and obedience. The new home of the Indians 
was a well-watered country, hardly so fertile as that they had left, and much less 
pleasant. Fogs prevail and an enormous rainfall during the winter months makes the 
region gloomy and unpleasant. Nevertheless, nuts, roots, grasses, fish and game abound 
and furnished the savages a tolerable living throughout a portion of the year. Upon this 
extensive tract the tribes lived at peace with each other and the outside world, guarded 
from the contact of the whites by strong detachments of military, who held the avail- 
able passes from the east. Fort Umpqua at the mouth of the river of that name, Fort 
Hoskins in King's valley, Polk county, and another post still further north stood 
between them and civilization. At the more suitable localities in this large tract the 
Indians were located and in some cases began to assist in their own support, the gov- 
ernment, in consideration of the surrender of their lands, contributing the remainder. 
Here Old Sam, chief of the Table Rock band, was located, and here he developed 
traits of commercial enterprise previously unsuspected; for he raised apples and onions 
and disposed of them to his less provident subjects for exorbitant prices. Enos, too, 
was there for a time, but his restless habits got him into difficulties and he made illicit 
expeditions to various parts of the state, and being detected therein was denounced by 
certain nervous people as a fire-brand who was seeking to again spread the flames of 
war. There is a tradition in Curry county that Enos was hanged upon Battle rock at 
Port Orford; but the Indian then executed was one of four Coquille Indians hanged 
for the murder of Venable and Burton. 

John, the central figure of the war, after two years of inaction at the Yaquina, 
tried to instigate a revolt of the savages, with the object of seizing arms, overpowering 
the military, and escaping to their old hunting grounds. Being detected therein, John 



284 INDIAN WAES. 

and his son Adam were placed in irons, and seat by the steamer Columbia to Sau 
Francisco, and confined in the military prison at Alcatraz. During the voyage the 
two warriors escaped from confinement, and attacking their guard attempted to take 
the ship. They were soon ovei^owered, but not before the younger savage lost a leg, 
which was severed by a blow with a butcher's cleaver. They were turned over to the 
authorities at Fort Flint, in San Francisco bay, and after a somewhat prolonged resi- 
dence as prisoners of war, were pardoned on promises of leading peaceful lives in 
future, and were returned to Oregon. At a later date Adam was in the Klamath lake 
country, where he became a chief. The termination of his father's career is not dis- 
tinctly made out. 

In 1857 an accurate census of the Indians upon the reserve proved them to num- 
ber 2,049 souls, in fourteen different bands. In 1869 there were half as many, still 
keeping up tribal relations. In 1866 the greater part of the reservation was taken 
away from them, and laid open to settlement by whites, and the comparatively few sur- 
vivors are confined within the narrow limits of what is called the Siletz reservation, 
which is a small portion of the former extensive tract. Grande Ronde is another des- 
ignation for the same reserve. 

Subsequent to the removal of the Indians some occurrences took place in Southern 
Oregon which properly belong to the subject of the Indian wars, because brought 
about by the few Indians who chose to remain in their old home and brave the anger 
of their white enemies rather than accompany the rest of their tribe into exile. In 
the southern part of Curry county there remained a few Indians, and in the southern 
part of Douglas county, more particularly in the vicinity of Cow creek, another small 
band were in hiding. On the Illinois river a few were also known to live, the miser- 
able and lonely relics of Limpy's once powerful band. These latter, impelled, doubt- 
less, by hunger, committed a few robberies during the month of July, 1856, and made 
an attempt on the life of one Thompson, but were driven off. The scene of their 
depredations was chiefly on Sucker and Althouse creeks. On the road between Camas 
prarie and the Big Meadows the dead bodies of two white men were found about the 
same time, whose evident murder was laid to Indians. About the middle of August 
some few Indians supposed to be Cow Creeks, signalized themselves by several attacks 
on citizens in the southern part of Douglas county. Moffit, a citizen, was pursued by 
a half-dozen of the band, but escaped. On August fourteenth James Russell and 
James Weaver, while riding along the road between Canyonville and Deer creek, were 
shot at and the former severely wounded. Both escaped. The same band, after burn- 
ing two houses, attacked and wounded another man near Burnett's place. Citizen 
Klink, of Douglas county, was fired at by Indians while plowing in his field. He ran 
to his house, shot through both arms. The assailants soon retired, but Major Cranmer, 
at the head of a volunteer company, arrested six of them a day or two subsequently. 
It was estimated that 100 Indians were still residing on Cow creek in August. 

On the sixth of the previous month a packer lost his life at the hands of hostile 
Indians on the Siskiyou mountains. A pack-train was waylaid by Indians while 
coming from Yreka to Jacksonville, and one Fogle was shot through the breast and 
soon died. These repeated casualties show conclusively that the state of affairs that 
existed immediately after the deportation of the tribes was of a most unquiet character ;. 



INDIAN WARS. 285 

but society was not long subject to these disturbing causes. By the early part of the 
following year these difficulties had ceased and quietness reigned. Thus closed the 
Indian wars in Southern Oregon. 

The financial history of the Indian wars of the early years presents considerable 
of importance to interest the reader. It has been mentioned that the demands 
of the war of 1853 were paid in full two years later, through the action of General 
Lane and others. The accounts growing out of the Walker expedition "To fight 
the emigrants," as some facetious ones have termed it, were paid subsequent to the 
war of the rebellion. The act of Congress which authorized their payment, was 
based upon a previous act approved July 17, 1854, entitled "An act to authorize the 
secretary of war to settle and adjust the expenses of the Rogue River war [of 1853]," 
which was extended to cover the case of Captain Walker's company. The claims 
growing out of the last Indian war achieved quite a history. In the summer of 1856 
the matter of these claims was brought before Congress by the Oregon delegate, 
General Lane, and being referred to the committee on military affairs, a recommenda- 
tion was made by that committee favorable to the payment of the expenses of the wars 
in Oregon and Washington, the two sets of claims — arising from the Rogue River and 
the Yakima wars — becoming mingled in all congressional and official reports. In 
consequence of this recommendation congress, on the eighteenth of August, passed an 
act, one of whose provisions is: "Be it enacted, That the secretary of war be directed 
to examine into the amount of expenses necessarily incurred in the suppression of 
hostilities in the late Indian war in Oregon and Washington by the territorial govern- 
ments in the maintenance of the volunteer forces engaged, including pay of volun- 
teers, and he may if he deem it necessary, direct a commission of three to report these 
expenses to him," etc. In consequence a commission consisting of Captain Andrew J. 
Smith, previously many times mentioned in the account of the wars; Captain Rufus 
Ingalls, now a high official in the paymaster's department, U. S. A.; and Lafayette 
Grover, of Salem, Or., was appointed to make the examination as aforesaid. They 
began work in October, 1856, and after spending more than a year in a careful inves- 
tigation of these claims, "traveling over the whole field of operations occupied by the 
volunteers during hostilities, and becoming thoroughly conversant with the matter," 
made their report to the secretary of war. According to their examination the sum of 
$4,449,949.33 was due as the expenses on the part of Oregon. The muster-rolls of 
companies represented [an indebtedness, after deducting stoppages for clothing, etc., 
of $1,409,644.53; while scrip had been issued to the extent of $3,040,344.80 in pay- 
ment of supplies, etc., furnished. This aggregate was exclusive of claims for spoliation 
by Indians, and included only what were thought to be the legitimate expenses of main- 
taining the volunteer force in the field. The report and accompanying documents were 
transmitted to congress, and on the eighth of February, 1859, a resolution passed the 
house of representatives providing that it should be the duty of the third auditor of 
the treasury to examine the vouchers and papers connected with the subject, and make 
a report in the December following, of the amount due each individual engaged in the 
military service of the two territories during the war. The resolution also provided 
that he should allow the volunteers no higher pay than was received by the officers 
and soldiers of like grade in the regular army, including the extra pay of tw r o dollars 



286 INDIAN WARS. 

per month conferred by act of congress of 1852 on troops serving on the Pacific coast ; 
that he was to recognize no company or individual as entitled to pay except such as 
had been duly called into service by the territorial authorities; that in auditing claims 
for supplies, transportation, etc., he was directed to have a due regard to the number of 
troops, to their period of service and to the prices which were current at the time and 
place. 

On February 7, 1860, R. J. Atkinson, third auditor, made his report. It was an 
exhaustive and voluminous document, and it reduced the grand total of the claims of 
various sorts, acted on by the three commissioners, from $6,011,457.36 to $2,714,808.55, 
a reduction of about fifty-five per cent. This estimate was taken as a basis for these 
claims, and by a subsequent act of congress a sum of money to correspond was appro- 
priated to pay them, the greater portion of which has been disbursed. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



NAMES OF THE VOLUNTEERS. 

Muster-Roll of the Second Regiment — Officers and Privates Who Took Part in the War of 1855 — Com- 
panies Omitted. 

Roll of the Second Regiment Oregon Mounted Volunteers, December 7, 1855 
to March 18, 1856 : 

Colonel, R. L. Williams ; Lieutenant-Colonel, William J. Martin ; Major, James 
Bruce ; Adjutant, Charles S. Drew ; Regimental Quartermaster, Jacob S. Rinearson ; 
Commissary, Terrill A. Jackson ; First Lieutenants attached to staff, Riley E. Stratton, 
Edgar B. Stone, Andrew J. Kane, Walter S. Hotchkiss; Sergeant Major, Daniel P. 
Barnes. 

Roll of field and staff of the Second Regiment on the nineteenth of March, 1856: 

Colonel, John Kelsey; Lieutenant-Colonel, William W. Chapman; Major, James 
Bruce ; Major First Recruiting Battalion, William H. Latshaw ; Major Second Re- 
cruiting Battalion, E. L. Massey ; Adjutant, Sandford R. Myres ; Adjutant Right 
Column, J. M. Cranmer ; Adjutant Recruiting Battalion, Lyman B. Munson ; Regi- 
mental Quartermasters, John B. White, Josej)h L. White ; Commissary, Terrill B. 
Jackson ; Sergeant Major, Byron M. Dawes ; Farrier, William Horseley. 

Company A. — Mustered October 23, 1855 ; discharged February 6, 1856 — Cap- 
tain, Joseph Bailey ; First Lieutenant, D. W. Keith ; Second Lieutenant, Cyrenus 
Mulkey; Sergeants, T. J. Holland, W. A. Owen, R. Hayes, Jonathan Riggs ; Cor- 
porals, Chas. McClure, James Woodey, A. Crissman, John Wilson ; Privates, T. J. 
Aubery, M. C. Aubery, J. C. Anderson, J. Buffington, G. Bogart, C. Bogart, O. H. P. 



INDIAN WARS. 287 

Beagle, J. H. Beagle, W. L. Baskett, M. Belcher, J. M. Brewer, A. Benton, Wm. Cox, 

F. Cogswell, W. Dougherty, G. B. Day, J. J. Davison, W. B. Earnest, I. Early, M. 
Furgerson, J. W. Funk, J. M. Gale, J. Gillespie, J. L. Gardner, G. B. Hayes, L. C. 
Hawley, J. Henderson, D. C. Howard, W. Howard, E. Hills, Wm. Hunt, H. Holmes, 
J. January, A. A. King, W. Kirkpatrick, A. W. Langhlin, J. Lapham, Z. S. McCall, 
J. F. Mulkey, J. Mulkey, R. H. McGinnis, H. B. McPherson, J. W. McMinn, S. H. 
McBee, J. S. Miller, A. A. Morgan, L. Morgan, C. J. Matlock, R. M. Masterson, A. 
Murray, H. Milbourn, J. McCall, G. Ozmond, John Pankey, W. W. Patterson, L. B. 
Roland, W. L. Rogers, L. S. Rogers, R. Rush, J. W. Richardson, Benj. Stanton, J. C. 
Summer, Jos. Siden, H. A. Stevens, M. Taylor, S. Taylor, G. W. Tucker, D. Taylor, 
Robert Wilson, C. P. Wilson, J. M. Wallan, W. M. Watson, John Watson, C. W. 
Wild. 

Company D. — Mustered November 10, 1855 ; discharged May 15, 1856 — Cap- 
tain, E. A. Rice ; First Lieutenant, John S. Miller ; Second Lieutenant, J. F. Ander- 
son ; Sergeants, Ebenezer Pinkham, John Hailey ; Corporals, G. W. Collins, James 
Dickey, John McBride; Privates, Ira W. Barbee, Charles Barnes, Joseph Craine, 
John Crosby, William Cogle, J. M. Cramer, J. J. Charlton, Lewis Calhoun, Nicholas 
Cook, Oscar Duskins, William M. Elliott, W. M. Griffin, B. B. Griffin, J. F. Griffin, 
C. C. Goodwin, Alvan Heading, Isaac C. Hill, F. M. Huddleston, J. T. Hamilton r 
David N. Herren, Edward James, Jacob Long, Tobias Lytle, Nathan Milton, Tobias 
Mosev, A. J. Mattoon, George Morris, Chancy Nye, S. Pearse, Asher T. Prouty, Na- 
thaniel Rice, Wm. C. Riggs, William J. Robinson, Jacob B. Rinehart, Isaac Swinden, 

G. Stopper, Peter Sailing, Samuel Smith, Bushford Stanton, Noah Sagers, Jacob 
Tompson, D. W. Yanmarter, John W. Wood, Miles Wakeman, Robison Wright, 
William Yerke. 

Company E. — Mustered at Fort Yannoy, November 10, 1855, discharged Feb- 
ruary 1. 1856 — Captain, Robert L. Williams (elected Colonel, December 7); First 
Lieutenant, Hugh O'Neal (became Captain, January 5, 1856); Second Lieutenant, 
Michael Bushey ; Sergeants, George A. Eades, William J. Matthews, Grenville Blake, 
Richard Moore; Corporals, R. C. Brewer, Amasa Morse, John Lee, Samuel Cornelius ; 
Privates, John Axtell, B. Antoine, Charles Abraham, Benjamin Armstrong, James 
Black, L. Bozarth, W. E. Bozarth, M. Baughman, Daniel Briggs, B. B. Brockway, 
Christian Bellifelt, Joshua Barker, Michael Bone, AVilliam Barton, J. H. Barnes, Elzey 
Bird, H. R. Covert, John Cheeney, Nicholas Comser, James Curtain, Abraham Cole, 
Wm. Clements, Samuel Christalier, Ichabod Dodsen, Andrew J. Duskill, John C. S. 
Davis, Joseph Dickerson, George Dinsmore, James Duydate, J. P. Davidson, Thomas 
DeHaven, H. H. Epps, George R. Elliott, Michael Emerich, Harry Evens, Alexander 
Fuller, William Finch, A. W. Forgey, J. L. Frye, S. A. Frye, Thomas Gill, Robert 
Gammill, Ray Giddes, J. C. Graves, John Gould, J. W. Galbraith, Jefferson Howell, 
Green Holton, John R. Hale, Samuel Hawkins, Henry Hempster, William Heverlo, 
John B. Hutton, Peter Harrison, P. H. Harper, William Hyde, James Hornbuckle, I. 
S. Inman, H. S. Jones, John Jones, John Johnson, John Johnston, H. F. Johnston, 
Chas. Kimball, James Kelly, G. W. Keeler, T. R. Lawson, John Miller, Yoorhe Mul- 
lan, Jacob Miller, Thomas Mastin, S. K. Myers, N. H. Martin, P. J. Mann, Thos. E. 
McKoin, John Meter, S. D. Northcutt, W. W. Northcutt, Francis Pierson, John 



2S8 INDIAN WARS. 

Parder, Samuel Parks, W. N. Pollock, David Philipps, Thomas Ryan, N. Ramsey, 
J. M. Roberts, Daniel Richardson, A. M. Rainey, L. Scoller, W. Stamnes, H. W. 
Stainton, Jno. Slater, Jacob Schernerhom, Seth Smith, D. H. Sexton, P. Snellback, 
Jno. Sargent, Wm. Smith, S. B. Sarles, Eel. Smith, Wm. Torrey, Jas. Thompson, A. J. 
Vincent, Z. Van Norman, George Weeks, J. C. Ward, James Wilson, C. Walker, H. 
Wilson, O. Whitsell, J. J. Whitsell, Charles Ward, Alex. Watts, J. J. Writter, N. J. 
Walker, Jas. Woolen, Anderson Williams, D. M. Yates. 

Company F. — Mustered November 10, 1855 ; discharged, February 10, 1856 — 
Captain, William A. Wilkinson ; First Lieutenant, C. F. Blake ; Second Lieutenant, 
M. F. Wakeman ; Sergeants, E. Hewitt, A. M. Shauntz, S. Fox, Robert Cochran ; 
Corporals, James Stephens, William Gray, Lewis Miller, Hiram Wade ; Privates, Wil- 
liam Allen, B. W. Alkin, John D. Alkire, William Arnett, Abraham Bowman, Wil- 
liam Bradley, James Brown, Stephen Betts, Arthur Coffin, Alfred Carter, J. H. 
Cochran, J. F. Chaffe, N. Campbell, G. C. Clay, Henry Cylinski, Emory Dalton, 
Theodore Deppe, W. H. Davidson, Patrick Daily, W. W. Edmonson, William Ells- 
worth, W. L. Freeman, Ransom Freeman, J. Farrout, Joseph Fitzen, J. W. Gaveny, 
Charles Griffith, O. Guilbert, Francis Graves, Edwin L. Hesse, Simon N. Harvey, F. 
V. Henderson, Thomas Huffman, John Harris, Henry Hawes, Thomas Hays, John 
Holloway, William Hobbes, J. B. Hunt, John Keller, David Kelsey, A. J. Long, J.W. 
Liles, G. F. Ledford, G. Mathews, J. W. May, T. H. Mitchell, James McCrate, B. F. 
Moore, Elias D. Mercer, Eli Martin, Michael Mowan, J. R. Meacham, E. F. Newland, 
James Ogg, Andrew Oldsen, John Osborn, William Purvis, W. W. Parrish, Albion 
Powell, John Ragsdale, George Reed, Andrew Russel, Jonathan Smith, Isaac Sneltser, 
John Stanley, J. E. Stephens, James J. Sanders, John B. White, J. W. White, Joseph 
Ward, D. W. Wallace, William Worden. 

Company F. — Re-enlisted February 11, 1856; discharged May 26, 1856 — Captain, 
W. A. Wilkinson; First Lieutenant, C. F. Blake; Second Lieutenant, Edwin L. Hesse ; 
Sergeants, J. H. Cochran, A. J. Long, T. W. Mitchell, Robert Cochran ; Corporals, T. 
W. Siles, J. F. M. Hash, S. N. Harvey, John D. Alkire; Privates, William Arnett, A. 
Bowman, James Brown, William Bradley, Arthur Coffin, Henry Cylinski, William 
Custerline, Alfred Carter, W. H. Davidson, Patrick Daily, Emory Dalton, Theodore 
Deppe, W. W. Edmonson, B. F. Endersby, Joseph Fitzen, J. W. Gaveny, Francis 
Graves, William Hobbes, John Harris, S. M. Hall, Seth Hall, Daniel S. Hicks, James 
B. Hunt, David Johnston, David Kelsey, W. C. Miller, Greenville Mathews, James 
McCrate, Michael Moran, Andrew McClure, B. F. Moore, F. N. McKee, E. D. Mercer, 
J. W. May, T. R. Miller, B. F. Newlin, Oscar Nott. 

Company G. — Mustered February 6, 1856 ; discharged May 28, 1856 — Captain, 
Miles F. Alcorn ; First Lieutenant, James M. Matney ; Second Lieutenant, John 
Osborn ; Sergeant, Silas J. Day (elected first lieutenant April 8) ; Privates, Robert 
Alcorn, Joseph M. Addington, Squire Butcher, George Black, George Brown, John 
W. Buckles, William Blane, William Brockus, Chester Badger, Zachariah Butts, Ariel 
E. Chapin, Andrew J. Cooper, John R. Cooper, Peter Cook, George W. Cherry, Ed- 
ward W. Day, Henry Gordon, Moses Hopwood, Miller Judd, Eli Judd, Allen Jones, 
Ceyren Knudsen, William H. Lane, William Lane, John N. Lewis, John Lee, David 
McClements, B. F. McKeen, John Morton, George Parks, Thomas C. Rowell, Samuel 



INDIAN WARS. 289 

Reeder, Peter R. Sanderson, Jesse H. Stanley, J. D. Spears, Woods T. Tucker, John 
Wmeland, James Woods, Thomas T. Walker. 

Company H. — Mustered at Roseburg, November 25, 1855 ; discharged February 
L6, 1856 — Captain, Samuel Gordon; First Lieutenant, Samuel B. Hadley ; Second 
Lieutenant, Theodore Prater ; Sergeants, James B. Patton, Joseph Embree, Samuel I. 
Bunton, John Partz ; Corporals, Samuel H. Mastin, S. B. Greenland, Elijah Bunton, 
Jr., William A. Wallace; Privates, E. P. Anderson, Thomas Anderson, William M. 
Abbott, E. Barker, John Byron, William Briggs, I. M. Barker, Levi Bird, J. N. W. 
Beliew, Hugh Carson, H. M. Colon, John C. Cannon, E. Cupsin, William Cochran, 
Garrett Crockett, .Richard Duvall, John Doclson, John W. Dixon, M. S. Daily, Wil- 
liam Doty, William P. Day, George W. Day, R. H. Estell, Hiram Everman, A. A. 
Engels, W. M. Eaton, George Finch, I. W. Farleigh, James Fordyce, I. K. Ford, John 
Fitzhugh, Levi Gibbs, Robert G. Hadley, Wm. Ireland, C. W. Johnson, John Leicer, 
David Lilly, Robert J. Long, George Lawrence, Henry A. Livingstone, A. McElwain, 
W. J. Moore, Edwin Morgan, N. Mitchell, C. J. McClelland, J. B. Nichols, David 
O'Neil, V. Oden, James M. Pyles, John Price, L. D. Philipps, Richard Patrum, 
Robert Painter, Jr., Jesse Pool, F. M. Purley, I. Rapplye, Wm. Russell, Wm. H. 
Riddle, Eli. B. Robinson, C. B. Rawson, Alexander Reed, W. D. Singleton, James R. 
Scott, Hawkins Shelton, Edward Sheffield, Thomas Saum, Richard Shelton, N. I. Sexton, 
William Silvers, I. W. Thororelf, A. S. Thompson, W. N. West, G. W. Williams, 
Mathias Williams, I. P, Willson, F. M. Wright, James R. Wade, William Wilson, 
William Weekley. 

Company I. — Mustered at Roseburg, November 22, 1855; discharged January 
18, 1856 — Captain, W. W. Chapman (became lieutenant-colonel of second regiment); 
First Lieutenant, Z. Dimmick; Second Lieutenant, James M. Morrill; Sergeants, 
Lyman S. Kellogg, William Wells, Abijah Ives, Thomas Cozad; Corporals, William 
A. Allen, Abraham C. Langdon, Johnson B. Gough, Joseph S. Reid; Privates, Simon 
H. Allensworth, George H. Burtgess, R. Butler, Edward Breen, William Barr, Clayton 
F. Bramlet, Benjamin Brattain, John Burrington, C. A. Bartrutt, Henry Casey, 
Thomas Chapman, James F. Cooper, G. J. Chapman, Daniel Craft, Alexander 
Canautt, William Canautt, William Davis, R. D. Dimmick, Solomon Ensley, A. P. 
Frayer, John Frayer, James Farmer, James Fraim, J. Crosby Fitzgerald, David W. 
Frarey, Levi Gant, James L. Garrett, Edward Griffin, William Golden, Francis 
Geiger, Addison C. Gibbs, Calvin B. Green, George Greenwald, Charles G. Hinderer, 
William Hubbard, A. T. Howard, William W. Haynes, Clark Hudson, Ira M. Hanna, 
Joseph Hudson, William Hilbert, William Hathaway, R. M. Hutchinson, Peter 
Johnson, George Kuntz, Levi Kent, James F. Levens, Z. Levens, J. A. Landes, 
Thomas Levens, Ansel Langdon, James McKinney, John Marshall, William 
McKearns, James McDonald, James McGranery, John Nicholson, W. R. Patterson, 
George Paine, Benton H. Pyburn, Samuel Rich, William Robertson, Thomas Stuttered, 
George W. Snyder, Andrew Sawyer, James F. Savery, S. R. Slayton, Jackson Swar- 
engen, John Sawyer, S. E. Smith, M. R. Sharpe, Madison Scoby, Edward Spicer, 
Daniel Test, Henry Thornton, D. C. Underwood, Ansel Weatherby, L. L. Williams, 
H. H. Woodward, John P. Wiggins. 

Company I. — Re-enlisted January 18, 1856; discharged May 14, 1856 — Captain, 
W. W. Chapman; First Lieutenant, S. S. Kellogg; Second Lieutenant, Ansel 

38 



290 INDIAN WARS. 

Weatherby; Sergeants, Henry Thornton, Henry W. Woodward, William Robertson, 
W. F. Clingan; Corporals, Benton H. Pyburn, Jacob Pittman, Abel J. Howard, 
William McKearns; Privates, W. A. Alien, Eli Allen, B. Brattain, William Brainard, 
W. F. Bay, James G. Chapman, Thomas Chapman, W. W. Chapman, Jr., W. H. 
Crouch, William Canauld, William F. Clingan, William Cummins, W. H. Chapline, 
T. Dayon, J. W. Gordon, J. B. Goff, William Hilbert, M. B. Holmbs, James Hilburn, 
J. A. Landes, J. J. Mitchell, William Patterson, John H. Pope, Evans Smith, Wil- 
liam Smith, Thomas Stoddard, Milo Taylor, William Theil, James Terrell, S. S. 
Williams. 

Company A. — (First recruiting battalion.) — Mustered at Roseburg, February 8, 
1856 ; discharged May 20, 1856 — Captain Edward Sheffield ; First Lieutenant, S. S. J. 
Bunten ; Second Lieutenant, E. Capron ; Sergeants, S. H. Mastin, John Farleigh, R. 
G. Hadley, J. G. Belieu; Corporals, John Noah, N. Farris, Thos. Paul, W. R. Robin- 
son ; Privates, E. P. Anderson, D. Anderson, A. H. Brown, S. Belieu, James Bean, L. 
Bird, J. M. Baker, J. V. Bradley, H. Clifton, J. Cobble, G. Cox, Jesse Davenport, W. 
Dooley, F. M. Ellsworth, J. C. Fitzgerald, B. F. Frewel, D. M. Gilman, James Harris, 
S. Livingston, J. Livingston, J. D. B. Lee, Peter McKinney, J. M. McKinney, M. C. 
McCloucl, L. M. McCray, W. McKnight, J. McKinney, P. G. Masters, S. M. Masters, 
E. McElwain, John Pierce, E. Painter, H. Ridenham, James Stewart, W. Silver, John 
Siwash, John Spence, A. Thompson, A. H. Woodruff. 

Company B (First recruiting battalion) — Mustered in February 18, 1856; 
discharged June 18, 1856 — Captain, Abel George; First Lieutenant, William H. 
Chapline; Second Lieutenant, G. C. Vanlandingham; Sergeants, Byron N. Dalbes, 
Ezra Smith, F. D. Chapline, A. J. Doty; Corporals, Columbus White, William 
Dennis, John Mitchell, Willson W. Sharp; Privates, Jesse Adams, George W. Black- 
well, A. B. Buttolph, Isaac Carson, Stanford Capps, Jacob Colclosure, F. G. Collins, 
A. E. Colwell, John Chandler, George W. Cups, Robert Davis, Peter DeMoss, 
William Ellsworth, John Evens, J. H. Fanning, J. A. Freeman, S. A. Harding, 
Thomas Hays, George S. Flays, C. H. Horn, R. Jackson, John Jones, Henry Kennedy, 
Thomas Latham, Donna Lascreaux, Ormsby McKean, Peter Meeds, John McCartney, 
S. McMillen, H. D. Mount, Thomas Patten, M. S. Peden, F. Quabey, Lawson T. 
Reid, F. M. Rhodes, J. F. Richardson, George Robinson, Frances Sackett, Frederick 
Saddler, William Shanks, Richard Smith, A. J. Tomas, George S. Thomjoson, George 
W. Thurmon, William Watts, J. Woodward, Willson C. Wilcox, A. Wyland. 

Company C (First recruiting battalion) — Mustered in February 19, 1856; dis- 
charged May 21, 1856 — Captain, Michael Bushey; First Lieutenant, Samuel C. 
Nicholson; Second Lieutenant, Henry B. Conroy; Sergeant, Aaron R. Deadwood; 
Privates, J. G. Adams, J. M. Anderson, Henry J. Amnions, David Brenan, Erben 
E. Bozarth, Tomas Bozarth, Atchinson Blackwood, E. B. Ball, J. C. Cox, John H. 
Colclosure, Samuel Christelier, Sewyel Cox, George C. Clay, Peter Cook, Robert 
Davis, George Densmore, Jasper A. Daniels, Edward H. Day, Alfred H. Fisher, 
Henry Gordon, David M. Groom, Henry Green, Dempsey Hamilton, Henry Jones, 
William Lane, Adam Linn, Jacob Miller, William McGloughlin, William McMahon, 
Guilbert Parker, James M. Pyle, C. B. Roland, Wently Roop, James Strong, Seth 
Smith, Peter O. Smith, William J. Tracy, W. G. Winningham, Anderson Williams, 
A. I. W r atts, T. G. Winningham, George Wood, T. D. Wright. 



INDIAN WARS. 291 

Company D. — (First recruiting battalion.) Mustered February 27, at Camp Stew art; 
discharged May 26, 185G — Captain M. M. Williams; First Lieutenant, J. A. Carter; 
Second Lieutenant, George B. Curry ; Sergeants, Joseph Tracy, A. D. Lake, Merritt 
Bellinger, Abner Miner; Corporals, S. J. Southerland, Samuel Clayton, W. M. Little, 
Denis Crawley; Privates, Charles Anderson, J. K. Applegate, John Albon, B. L. 
Battey, W. F. Burns, J. B. Burns, D. P. Brittain, Thos. J. Bayless, E. Blodget, J. B. 
Braman. W. Churchill John Churchill, T. M. Cameron, P. W. Cook, J. Dickens, H. 
Dixon, J. P. Delk, G. R. Enos, B. F. Elliott, S. Eager, E. Frost, H. B. Fowler, R. R. 
Gates, Alex. Harris, A. C. Harrison, J. Johnson TV. Lampson, J. R. Little, C. Links- 
wiler, T. Lamberson, L. Little, A. Lee, J. J. Murphy, S. Mooney, Ira Moody M. Mc- 
Lane, R. S. McMullin, A. C. Nelson, W. Newcomb, E. B. Poland, W. F. Pearman, F. 
Pierson, F. M. Rhoades, J. Rhoades, Alex. Rainey, W. M. Southerland, A. W.Stingent, 
M. G. Sellers, G. S. Smith, W. A. Stinger, Alex. Thompson, E. Taber, James Terrell, 
D. Tryon, S. M. Wait, Moses Warner. 

Company A. — (Second recruiting battalion). Mustered February 13, 1856; dis- 
charged June 19, 1856 — Captain, Wm. H. Latshaw (promoted to Major March 19); First 
Lieutenant, J. M. "Wallan (became Captain March 19) ; Second Lieutenant, Charles 
W. McClure ; Sergeants, J. L. White, John Duvall, John Wilson, Dennis Prickett; 
Corporals, David Wilson, William Cox, F. M. Mansfield, J. C. Templeton ; Privates, 
W. Allen, R. C. Breeding, E. H. Baber, R. D. Cotton, Wm. Crow, Benjamin Cox, D. 
B. Cooley, John Collins, J. F. Duniway, John Dodson, M. Emrick, J. W. Funk, J. 
Galbraith, J. R. Gist, J. R. Hays, G. W. Howard, H. P. Holmes, A. Haney, W. R. 
Jones, Jonathan Keeney, Jas. Lapham, A. S. McClure, Bobt. Matheny, J. H. McCord, 
A. J. McClure, John Miller, John McCall, James Petrie, William Privitt, D. H. Put- 
nam, W. H. Peck, Mahlon Petrie, M. C. Pettyjohn, R, S. Shook, Conrad Stuygle, W- 
W. Shortridge, J. P. Taylor, C. W. Tedrow, J. B. Thompson, William Wilson." 

Company B. — (Second recruiting battalion), Mustered February 18, 1856; dis- 
charged June 21, 1856 — Captain, John Kelser (promoted to Colonel ; succeeded by W. 
J. Robertson); First Lieutenant, J. L. Combs; Second Lieutenant, Comedon S. Lum ; 
Sergeants, J. W. Chisholm, Thomas Clemmins, M. Adams, W. C. Jasper ; Corporals, 
James S. Phillips, Morgan Lillard, William Ownsby, A. F. Ragsdale ; Privates, W. 
H. Anderson, John F. Baird, Carroll Baird, Robert S. Barclay, Robert Bolan, C. P. 
Blair, John T. Craigg, James Casner, J. M. Creswell, H. M. Childers, Reuben Fields, 
W. R. Fontain, Nicholas Feldwert, T. J. Goe, Ulysses Garred, G. W. Goodman, A. J. 
Hayden, G. W. Hayden, Richard B. Hays, Martin Humber, T. D. Hinton, J. B. Hen- 
derson, William Hiester, J. M. James, John C. Lloyd, William Lambden, Thomas 
McBee, J. K. McCormack, F. M. Mathews, E. Marple, James McCallister, W. A. 
Mulvaney, Newton Mulvaney, L. W. Mulvaney, John McCullock, John Marshall, S. 
McConnell, Thomas Mulkey, David Nesley, Edward Neely, Powell Ownsley, Cyrus 
Powers, Thomas Pyburn, A. Richardson, Hiram Richardsou, J. M. Richardson, S. V. 
Robinson, J. A. Robinson R. H. Randall, Joseph Slover, James Spears, M. A. Starr, 
S. E. Starr, S.C. Shannan, William Stringer, William Splan, William Skein, Benjamin 
Trimble,Robert G.Thompson, J. A. Thompson, P. C. Thompson, William S. Turnlow, 
Evan Taylor. 

Company C (Second recruiting battalion). — Mustered in March 29, at Eugene 
City; discharged July 3, 1856 — Captain, D. W. Keith; First Lieutenant, L. C. Haw- 



292 INDIAN WAES. 

ley; Second Lieutenant, Jesse Cox; Sergeants, H. C. Huston, J. E. Kirkland, James 
Siden, George Morris; Corporals, G. H. Baker, John Robinson, Jesse B. Sitton, S. 
Gardner; Privates, William Allen, J. H. Alexander, T. N. Baker, O. Baird, J. T. 
Bowden, J. M. Brown, J. M. Brower, J. Bonser, O. Bates, H. A. Coston, A. J. Conard, 
D. S. Davis, M. Eccleston, J. M. Gale, J. N. Gale, J. C. Gray, Aaron Gardner, W. 
P. Gardner, J. A. Hays, E. Hammett, J. Hendricks, Adam Herbert, P. Higginbotham, 
Thomas Harson, Robert Harson, William Hyde, John Hutchins, A. A. King, A. 
J. Kirkland, John Jones, B. C. McAtee, Samuel Matheny, J. McClarnie, L. B. 
Munson, S. B. Mathers, Josiah McBee, S. H. McBee, E. L. Masssey, George W. 
Miller, B. F. Mounts, Thurston Pettyjohn, J. Robinson, M. Robinson, J. B. Riley, 
C. F. Robberson, W. L. Rogers, M. Smith, W. P. Skinner, C. C. Smith, T. B. 
South worth, J. N. Sharpe, John Skeen, John Taylor, William Taylor, John Taylor, 
John Warner, Benjamin Zumwalt. 

Prather's Spy Company. — Mustered at Deer Creek, March 6, 1856; discharged 
May 15, 1856 — Captain, Thomas Prather; First Lieutenant, Henry Shrum; Second 
Lieutenant, John Price; Sergeant, Edwin Morgan; Corporal, T. J. Singleton; 
Privates, Thomas Anderson, S. Blakeley, Andy Chapman, Joseph Embree, William 
Eaton, H. Everman, George Finch, J. Fordyce, J. French, I. J. Hinkle, L. Hale, H. 
Hoskins, G. Lawrence, R. Long, C. C. McClendon, J. S. Noland, M. Noland, V. 
Oden, A. V. Oden, M. Pervely, J. Simmons, H. Smith, P. VanSlyke, E. F. Whist- 
ler, James Watson, Daniel Walker, Enoch Wimberly, Robert Willis. 

Guess' Minute Company. — Mustered at Fort Play, Illinois valley, May 1, 1856; 
discharged June 20, 1856 — Captain, John Guess; First Lieutenant, Asher Moore; 
Second Lieutenant, Stephen Coleman; Sergeants, B. Kinchloe, W. J. Cross, W. S. 
Gibbs, John McCord; Corporals, Peter McClinchy, F. Sebastian, E. S. Fite, Alfred 
Dousitt, Thomas Arnett, Edward Evans, F. H. Freeman, A. J. Henderson, C. R. 
Hanaford, James Hope, John Heron, Charles Hook, J. A. M. Harned, J. Hamilton, 
U. C. Knight, B. Newman, W. Patterson, N. Pennaman, D. Post, J. D. Post, H. A. 
Plummer,W. Plummer, E. Mulkey, J. Miller, Charles Martin, J.Mendenhall,S. Mooney, 
P. Mulkey, John McDowd, J. Kirby, J. R. Reves, Lenoir Reves, G. L. Reed,W. Ross, M. 
Rothchild, Harvey Sbaw, George Sing, E. Z. Taner, A. P. Turner, F. M. Vliet, G. M. 
White, J. G. Wood. 

Looking-glass Guards. — Organized April 12, 1856 — Captain, Daniel Williams; 
First Lieutentant, William K. Stark; Second Lieutenant, William Cochran; Privates, 
James M. Arrington, Samuel W. K. Applegate, Willis Alden, John P. Boyer, Levi 
Ballard, William Cochran, Roland Flournoy, Jr., Jones Flournoy, Samuel S. 
Halpain, John H. Hartin, Nathaniel Huntley, Joseph Huntley, Daniel Huntley ; 
Alexander M. Johnson, Frederick Mitchell, Hilry A. Mitchell, Franklin Mitchell, 
Edmund F. McNall, Ambrose Newton, Abbot L. Todd, Franklin White, George W. 
Williams, Jefferson Williams, Milton W. Williams, Peter W. Williams. 

Gold Beach Guards. — Mustered March 13, 1856; discharged , 1856 — 

Captain, Elisha H. Meservey; First Lieutenant, Joseph McVey; Second Lieutenant, 
Joseph Griffith ; Privates, W. Allen Thomas Baker, Frank Bugy, Joseph Cruse, C. 
Claser, D. R. S. Daley, J. L. Garrett, E. A. Lane, Simon Lundy, S. Monte, John 
O'Regan, August Richards, J. W. Sykes, W. Smith, John Thomas, J. K. Vincent, O. 
W. Weam, Fred Weller, John Wilson. 







j3k 
i I 












INDIAN WARS. 293 

Roll of the Ninth Regiment, Oregon Militia. — Colonel, John E. Ross; 
Lieutenant-Colonel, Major, ; Adjutant, Charles S. Drew. 

Company A. — Mustered October 10, 1855; discharged November 2G, 1855 — 
Captain, T. 8. Harris; First Lieutenant, A. M. Berry; Second Lieutenant, G. W. 
Manvill; Sergeants, J. M. Sutton, J. L. Ware, John Shoomau, Thomas Hall; 
Corporals, w!" C. Butler, O. F. Sanford, William Ornduff, O. P. Brumby; Privates, 
L. F. Allen, B. S. Allen, Charles Armstrong, B. Bunuss, James Bourk, A. Bethel, 
M. C. Barkwell, A. A. Buzzell, J. B. Coats, J. H. Deadmond, William Daflin, 
William Dora, J. R. Enos, A. C. Funkhouser, Louis Furgason, John Gunn, John 
Goldsbv, Thomas Gill, C. B. Hinton, William Hamilton, William Hay, B. G. Henry, 
D. W. Helm, A. Helms, William Hand, John Johnson, J. M. Johns, Charles F. Kroft, 
Charles Kimball, L. G. Linvill, Eli Ledford, J. B. Little, F. F. Loche, W. I. Mayfield, 
A. J. Nalin, G. S. Nichols, Robert Opp, Thomas Ord, William Pernell, J. A. Pedigo, 
Benjamin Person, William Penington, S. Bathburn, J. M. Raburn, W. C Biggs, 
William Smith, S. B. Sorles, Peter Saling, Samuel Smith, William White, John 
Winingham, Martin Wingood, E. Yager. 

Company C. — Mustered October 10, 1855; discharged November 21, 1855 — 
Captain, Jacob S. Binearson; First Lieutenant, William P. Wing; Second Lieutenant, 
U. L. Woodford; Sergeants, Thomas R. Evens, Daniel Boone, Elisha M. Beavis; 
Privates, James A. Abbutt, John W. Bucklis, George Brown, Isaac Bentley, Peter 
Brown, Bufus H. Bernan, John Billings, William Ballard, John Bankenship, E. C. 
Bray, John Casner, John Creighton, Win. H. Crouch, Job Denning, Ichobod Dodson, 
James C. Dickey, F. Duniway,.Tomas East, John Fortune,William Geiney, Clement S. 
Glasgow, B. W. Henry, A. G. Henry, David W. Inman, Charles Johnson, John 
Junker, William S. King, Martin C. Leslie, Bobert Lang, James W. Lanber, William 
Lear, John G. Minot, Carick G. Minot, Enoch Miller, George B. Miller, Jacob W. 
Miller, John McCasy, Levi Notte, James Pearcy, John Y. Pinkerton, Bobert C. 
Percival, Williarn B. Phillips, Jackson Beynolds, F. M. Boman, John Red field, 
Samuel P. Strange, B. Sargeant, Labin Saunders, Henry Smith, Charles B. Tooth- 
acher, Francis M. Thibbits, E. N. Thomas, Samuel Tillard, William F. Woodford, 
Henry Wisbrook, George Wood, John D. Wright, Ephram Yager, Henry Yocum. 

Company D. — Mustered October 12, 1855 ; discharged November 9,^1855 — Cap- 
tain, R. L. Williams; First Lieutenant, E. B. Stone; Second Lieutenant, H. O'Neal; 
Sergeants, G. A. Edes, W. J. Mathews, G. Blake, R. Moore; Corporals, R. C. Brewer, 
A. Morse, J. Lee, S. Cornelius; Privates, B. Armstrong, M. C. Barkwell, H. H. Bar- 
rett, M. Baughman, B. B. Brockway, D. Briggs, J. Cristy, H. K. Covert, J. Cheney, 
N. Courter, J. Curtain, G. Delaney, A. J. Driskell, J. C. S. Davis, J. Dickerson, G. 
Dinsmore, J. Dugdale, J. P. Davidson, M. Emerich, J. J. Elliotte, H. H. Epps, G. R. 
Elliott, A. Fuller, L. Felton, J. P. Frizzell, R. Gammill, R. Gaddis, J. C. Graves, L. 
Gates, J. Howell, G. Holten, J. R. Hale, S. Hawkins, J. B. Hutton, S. S. Inman, J. 
Jones, J. Kent, C. Lovel, Y. Mullen, John Miller, T. Martin, S. R. Myres, S. Mooney, 
M. M. Melvin, T. E. McKoin, Y. Neil, J. Parder,M. Parsley, W. B. Previtt, W. Pen- 
ington, J. Russel, T. Ryan, W. Showdy, L. Scoller, G. W. Sloan, W. Stannus, H. W. 
Stainton, J. Slates, J. Schermerhorn, W. Toney, J. C. Ward, J. Wilson, J. Winter, C. 
Walker, H. Wilson, J. Woolen, R. Woods, D. M. Yates. 



294 INDIAN WARS. 

Company E. — Mustered October 12, 1855 ; discharged Captain, William 

B. Lewis ; First Lieutenant, William A. J. Moore ; Second Lieutenant, William White; 
Sergeants, John G. Adams, Alex. D. McJess, William Gibson ; Privates, Israel D. 
Adams, George W. Bramlet, Milton Blacklidge, William P. Chesher, John Cooper 
W. G. Crandall, J. Collins, John G. Dutcher, Allen Evans, I. Elliott, Harvey Evans 
John Erixson, John W. Gannaway, John Grosbois, Joseph McGahan, JosejDhus 
Hosier, Jacob Hershberger, Henry S. Jones, Joseph Umpqua, Louis Dunois, Timoleon 
Love, Edward Neely, James Neely, William Pruitt, J. W. Pickett, John Roberts, E. 
D. Smith, Adam Shough, Christolier Samuel, Samuel Sanders, Benjamin Tufts, J. L. 
Thompson, Evans Taylor, Thomas Wilson, J. E. White, George Weeks, Anderson 
Williams, W. R. Walker, A. S. Walker. 

Company F. — Mustered October 13, 1855 ; discharged November 13, 1855 — 
Captain, A. S. Welton ; First Lieutenant, Angus Brown ; Second Lieutenant, V. H. 
Davis ; Sergeants, J. C. London, John Hultz, David Rathborn ; Privates, George W. 
Anderson, M. D. Ballard, Wm. Barton, J. D. Bennett, S. Butcher, W. N. Ballard, 
Joseph Copeland, Joseph Carter, George Cherry, J. J. Charlton, C. A. Charlton, 
J. T. Farley, John Finnin, James Hawkins, J. H. Hasper, John Kennedy, 
Richard Kelly, Mellis Kelly, F. F. Locher, J. B. Layton, A. J. Long, Isaac Miller, 
N. N. Matlock, W. K. Minot, Edmund Magruder, J. B. Nichols, J. F. Noland, 
Henry Pearl, John Richards, George Ross, Clinton Schieffelin, E. Sharp, John Smith, 
James Stewart, David Tompson, Z. Van Orman, Thomas Warmon, Charles Williams, 
Stephen Watson. 

Company G. — Mustered into service October 11, 1855; mustered out November 
10, 1855 — Captain, Miles F. Alcorn ; First Lieutenant, James M. Matney ; Second 
Lieutenant, John Osborn ; Sergeants, S. J. Day, Thos. Bailey,Thos. Walker, Thos. Mc- 
Lain; Corporals, A. W. A. McConnell, Edwd. Cose, Saml. C. Nicholson, Jas. Tucker ; 
Privates, Thomas L. Arnot, Levy Allison, Caleb Bailey, Washington Bailey, David 
Butterfield, Luzern Bradley, Squire Bucher, D. N. Birdseye, F. G. Birdseye, William 
Brockus, Newman Bartlett, George Black, Henry B. Conroy, Champion Collier, 
William Collier, Wiley Cash, J. K. Colwell, George W. Cherry, John Cose, Thomas 
Coates, Andrew J. Cooper, Peter Cook, Freeman Chandler, George E. Chapel, David 
Clemens, Granderson Curtis, James W. Collins, Edward W. Day, William Decker, 
James F. Davis, Allen Evans, Menry P. Gordon, Philip Griff, Owen Hopkins, Demp- 
sey Hamilton, Simeon Hardin, O. D. Hoxie, Moses Hopwood, Miller Judd, Richard 
Jones, Isaac B. Kauffman, George Long, Jacob Lewellen, William Lane, Allen B. 
Moser, James Miller, David Mall, Constantine Magruder, Edmond Magruder, Benja- 
min McKeen, Simeon McFall, Tomas McBurney, William McClain, Daniel Newcomb, 
William T. Newcomb, Martin C. Newcomb, Ortegrel C. Newcomb, Felix O'Neal. 
William Patterson, James M. Patterson, W. B. Philips, Calvin Paris, A. Jackson 
Rader, Samuel Reeder, David Ruminer, Joseph Swingle, Benjamin Snipes, James 
Savage, Clinton Schieffelin, P. R. Sanderson, Hiram Taylor, Isaac Vanderhorn, John 
Wineland. 

Company J. — Mustered October 20, 1855 ; discharged November 16, 1855 — Cap- 
tain, Thomas Smith ; First Lieutenant, John R. Helman ; Second Lieutenant, Turney 
G. Condrie; Sergeants, Bennet Million, Robert Hargadine, Samuel Clayton; Privates, 
William Alevand, John Buckingham, William Bunyard, Thomas Barrett, James Bar 



INDIAN WARS. 295 

rett, John A. Bachman, A. Barr, B. F. Davis, Richard Evens, Eber Emery, J. Emery 
Asa Fordise, L. C. Geary, J. A. Harvey, Jacob Huffman, A. D. Helman, Sol. Holman j 
J. M. Johnson, James Kilgore, Sard. Knutzson, W. E. Laynes, William Miller, Jack- 
son Million, Masters, Michael Michealson, W. L. Morris, J. M. McCall, William 

McCommon, M. Newhouse, William Pitinger, John Roberts, Ferdinand Stiners, Wil- 
liam F. Songer, David Smith, James Toland, John Tucker, William Train, Giles 
Wells, John Wise, Isaac Woolen, John Walker, John Watson. 

Company K. — Mustered October 16, 1855j discharged November 21, 1855 — 
Captain, S. A. Frye; First Lieutenant, James Hornbuckle; Second Lieutenant, Thomas 
Moore; Sergeants, Charles Abraham, John Guess, Christian Tuttle ; Privates, James 
Ailsher, Urban E. Bozarth, Christian Billafelt, Joseph ^Barker, Michael Boon, T. 
Bozarth, Abraham Cole, T. DeHaven, Charles M. Dwelley, John L. Frye, William 
Finch, A. W. Foggy, John Gould, J. W. Galbraith, H. Henspeter, William Heaverloe, 
Patrick Haloran, John McGrew, John Meter, Samuel Parks, Frank Pierson, Napoleon 
Ramsey, James M. Roberts, David Sexton, Peter Snellback, Seth Smith, Henry Tomp- 
son, A. J. Whitsette, Charles Ward, Alex. Watts, J. J. Witter. 

Company L. — Mustered October 18, 1855; discharged November 21, 1855 — Cap- 
tain, Abel George; First Lieutenant, Thomas Hays; Second Lieutenant, Stephen Betts; 
Sergeants, J.M. Cranmer, J. H. Kirkpatrick, W. H. Case, T. N. Ballard; Privates, N. 

B. Bond, J. W. Chaffee, William Cogle, G. H. Church, A. J. Case, A. J. Doty, Wil- 
liam Elworth, W. L. Freemon, D. Fousley, A. Gage, A. M. Graham, Thomas Green- 
field, W. Gerick, C. R. Hicks, Edwin Heffs, H. Hawes, F. J. Higginson, A. S. Isaacs, 
R. II. Johnson, J. H. Lamand, Victor Lychlinski, Alexander Lee. James Ogg, J. W. 
Pate, Henry IF Richardson, E. H. Richardson John Ragsdell, Clinton Stetson, J. M. 
Shaw, George Stout, R. L. Smith, J. W. Selby, D. W. Van Martin, George C. A"an 
Landingham, William Warden. 

Company N. — Mustered October 26, 1855; discharged November 21, 1855 — Cap- 
tain, Orise F. Root; First Lieutenant, J. W. Scott; Second Lieutenant, BurdeP. Pott; 
Sergeants, C. P. Sprague, Isaac N. Knight, J. W. Pinnell, J. W. Donning ; Privates, 
John Axtell. Thomas Arnett, D. W. Beckley, J. G. Brious, William Brockus, A. J. 
Cutberth, W. W. Cox, James W. Doning, J. F. Davis, Robert Duckworth, H. DeGraff, 
Bernard Fisher, John Goings, Z. M. Goodale, J. M. Hay, Jarvis J. Hay, W. M. Hyde, 
A. J. Henderson, William Jump, Isaac N. Knight, James Kelly, T. R. Lawson, Jacob 
Lewellen J. W. Pattrich, J. W. Pinnell, W. M. Pollock, Burd Pott, Calvin Parris, 
Alexander M. Rainey, G. H. Reeves, J. R. Reeves, John Sargent, Charles F. Sharp, 

C. P. Sprague, J. W. Scott, John Twenty man, A. J. Vincent. 

Company — . — Mustered October 27 ; discharged November 16, 1855 — Captain, 
M. P. Howard ; First Lieutenant, Daniel Richardson ; Second Lieutenant, H. M. 
Conroy ; Sergeants, Israel T. Mann, G. A. Thomas, John Cathey, Lycurgus Bozarth ; 
Corporals, N. J. Walker, Nicholas H.Martin, John Cathey, N. R. Mulvaney; Privates, 
John Bowers, James Black, John Burns, Elzey Bird, William Clemens, Lozenzo 
Coppers, Pulaski Hall, P. H. Harper, Gill Hultz, Eli Judd, John H. Johnson, Thomas 
Lake, William Lamson, Joseph Miles, John Mayfield, James McClenney, David 
Phillips, John Price, D. F. Perkins, Jakob Rounderbush, Joseph Steel, Goldsmith 
Tear. George Tear. 



296 



INDIAN WARS. 



Company — . — Mustered October 10, 1855; discharged November 9, 1855 — 
Captain, James Bruce; First Lieutenant, E. A. Rice; Second Lieutenant, Joseph F. 
Anderson; Sergeants, Ebenezer Pinkham, R. R. Gates, Francis Pickle, John Haley; 
Corporals, George W. Collins, Elijah Williams, James C. Dickey, John S. McBride; 
Privates, Oliver P. Corbett, Dennis Crowley, John Coleman, Lewis Calhoun, D. R. 
Crocker, John C. Cottrell, Garret Fitzgerald, Charles L. Fee, Daniel F. Fisher, C. C. 
Goodwin, Aaron Greenbaum, James Hayes, E. Hereford, James Hereford, J. F. 
Hamilton, Alexander Harris , William A .Hall, Moses H. Hopwood, John N. Lewis, R. 
S. Munn, A. H. Matthew, Nathan Milton, Chauncey Nye, Sylvester Pease, William 
Pasley, William Pengra, Nathaniel Rice, August Rumbel, George Stapper, Samuel 
H. Smith, A. R. Smith, John W. Short, Bluford Stanton, Lewis Sagers, Alexander 
Thompson, John W. Wood, J. H. Wassum. 

Port Oeford Minute Men. — Mustered March 26; discharged June 25, 1856 — 
Captain, John Creighton; First Lieutenant, George Yount; Second Lieutenant, 
William Rollard; Sergeants, Nelson Stevens, Alexander Jones, Samuel Yount, 
Thourpson Lowe; Corporals, Peter Ruffner, John Herring, George White, Thomas 
Jamison; Privates, E. Bray, George Barber, Edward Burrows, Preston Caldwell, E. 
ditching, E. Cunningham, John T. Dickson, George Dyer, Aaron Dyer, H. M. 
Davidson, George Dean, Warren Fuller, Joseph Goutrain, Andrew Hubert, D W. 
Haywood, Joseph Hall, Thomas Johnson, Richard Johnson, T. G. Kirkpatrick, 
William Taylor, James Malcolm, L. Parker, James Saunders, Charles Setler, George 
P. Sullivan, Louis Turner, W. W. Waters, Charles Winslow, William White, John 
Wilson. 

Coquille Guards. — In service from November 6, 1855, to December 28, 1855; 
mustered at Fort Catching — Captain, W. H. Packwood; First Lieutenant, J. B. Hill; 
Sergeants, J. G. Malcolm, Evan Cunningham ; Corporals, Charles W. Wood, A. W. 
Davis; Privates, George Barber, Isaac Bingham, William Bagley, J. Bray, E. 
Catching, G. J. Cooper, J. J. Cooper, Preston Caldwell, William Cooley, F. McCue, 
J. B. Dulley, William Duke, Samuel Darlington, John B. David, J. A. Harry, 
Abram Huffman, David Hull, Alex. Jones,W. H. Jackson, Benjamin Tarrigan, Henry 
Miller, Lewellyn Oliver, A. Pence, R. G. Phillips, William Roland, James W. Rooks, 
John S. Sweet, Charles Settle, W. Waters. 

In this enumeration the companies of Buoy, Keeney, Bledsoe, Robertson, Blakely 
and Barnes of the second regiment, and of Thomas J. Gardner, M. M. Williams, W. 
A. Wilkinson, W. H. Harris, Stephen Coffin, J. G. Powell and W. S. Buckley of the 
ninth regiment are omitted because of the loss of their muster-rolls. The total strength 
of the two regiments is shown in the following table, which sets forth the number of 
officers and men in service on the twentieth of each month during the war of 1855-6: 





October, 
1855. 


November, 
1855. 


December, 
1855. 


January, 
1856. 


February, 
1856. 


March, 
1856. 


April, 
1856. 


May, 
1856. 


June, 
1856. 


July, 
1856. 


Ninth Regiment 


545 


217 

880 


7 
901 


4 
912 


4 

518 


3 
807 


2 

913 


2 
663 


2 
326 





Second Regiment 










Total Force 


545 


1,097 


908 


916 


522 


810 


915 


665 


328 


2 




W.G.T' Vault. 



SOUTHERN OREGON. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



DESCRIPTION, CLIMATE AND EARLY HISTORY. 

Extent of Southern Oregon— Forests of Timber— Supply of Water, Fish and Game — Climate — Meteorological 
Statistics — Population— Early History — Smith and McLeod — Wilkes Exploring Expedition — The Applegate 
Trail. 

The district which by common acceptance has become known as Southern Oregon, 
embraces the five counties of Douglas, Coos, Jackson, Josephine and Curry. It is 
bounded on the west by the Pacific ocean ; on the south it borders the California line ; 
the Cascade range interposes between it and Eastern Oregon ; while northwardly the 
region terminates in the Calapooia mountains and their prolongations, which separate 
the waters of the Willamette from those of the Umpqua. The shape of Southern 
Oregon roughly approaches a square, the principal divergence being in its north side, 
which runs northwesterly. The coast line is about one hundred and fifty miles long ; 
the southern side one hundred miles ; the eastern, or mountain boundary, about eighty- 
five miles ; and the northern side of the quadrilateral something near one hundred and 
twenty miles. Its total area is nearly twelve thousand square miles. This immense 
tract is divided by nature into two large and many small valleys separated by hills and 
mountain chains, rendering the country in the highest degree diversified. The larger 
valleys are those of the Umpqua and Rogue rivers — names celebrated in the history of 
Oregon, and in the future to be still more widely known as the abode of a numerous 
and fortunate people. 

To most of the mountain ranges intersecting these valleys names have been given, 
and particular peaks have also received designations. Thus to the northeastward the 
Calapooia mountains form the water-shed which separates the streams flowing into the 
Umpqua from those entering the Coast Fork and the Middle Fork of the Willamette. 
Mount Thielsen, or Cow-horn peak, stands near the point of intersection of that range 
with the Cascade mountains, and forms, as it were, the keystone of the whole range. 
This remarkable peak attains a height of 9,250 feet and bears a crown of snow through- 
out the year. It forms one of the most conspicuous objects in the whole range, and is 
in some respects superior to Mount Hood although its height is more than 2,000 feet less. 
It is especially remarkable as the center of several mountain systems which uniting at 
its base penetrate west, north and south. The spurs which trend to the west, north- 

39 



298 SOTJTHEEN OKEGON. 

west and southwest sink down as they proceed until they are lost in the hills of the 
Umpqua valley. These minor ranges, spreading like a fan, inclose pleasant valleys and 
deep canyons drained by clear and rapid streams, which, rising in the upper regions, 
run downward toward the sea, rapidly at first, over bowlders and precipices, slower as 
they pass through winding valleys and finally approaching and ending in Umpqua 
and Rogue rivers. In the mingled mass of mountains around about majestic Theilsen 
a number of important rivers have their birth. Almost at its base gush forth waters 
which, running in many devious courses, seek the ocean by various mouths. Within 
the shadow of the mountain lie lakes Crescent, Odell and Diamond. From the two 
former proceed streams which, flowing onward to the DesChutes river, keep a northerly 
course and reach the Columbia above The Dalles. From Diamond lake rises the 
North Umpqua, and from the gorges southwest therefrom the South Umpqua takes its 
rise, the two rivers to come together in the pleasant Umpqua valley and enter the 
ocean after flowing a generally westerly course. Again from Summit lake, a dozen 
miles north from Theilsen, the Middle fork of the Willamette springs, and after join- 
ing the main stream empties into the Columbia a hundred miles from the ocean. Close 
by the sources of the Umpqua and springing from the same great water shed which, as 
we have seen, nourishes the germs of so many rivers, the headwaters of Rogue river 
rise, and find their way down by devious ways to the ocean, the general course of the 
upper part of the river being southwest. Nor does this list comprise all the streams 
which have their birth in this remarkable region. Certain affluents of Klamath river 
and Klamath lake, namely, Wood, Seven-mile, and Annie creeks, head in these moun- 
tains. Thus the waters which spring forth from the sides of Theilsen and the neigh- 
boring peaks flow to every point of the compass. Before their course is run and they 
find rest in the Pacific they have traversed and watered the most fertile valleys of 
Oregon and Northern California. They have turned the wheels or borne the com- 
merce of scores of counties and bestowed blessings upon widely different localities. The 
Rogue and Umpqua rivers, after rising almost within stone's throw of each other, end 
their courses in the broad Pacific at a distance of over ninety miles apart. 

As seen from a high elevation the region under discussion does not by any means 
present the appearance generally accorded to it. Instead of large valleys or plains of 
level land fringed on either hand by the Cascades and the Coast Range, the country 
consists of a very large number of small valleys separated by mountain ranges of various 
heights and drained by creeks which find their tortuous way into the two principal 
streams. The separating ranges, instead of conforming to a general trend, seem to fol- 
low no fixed rule in that regard, and do not coincide with each other in any degree. 
Thus the country is exceedingly broken and its local divisions are almost innumerable, 
The observer would be particularly struck with the extent of the forest-clad surface. 
He would see that the trees cover by far the greater part of the entire region, only the 
broader valleys, bottom lands, and side-hills being to any extent free from timber and 
underbrush. On the west he would observe the extensive system of the Coast Range 
covered with dark forests of fir which extend to the sea coast. On the eastern boundary 
the Cascade mountains, clothed almost to the summit with noble forests, cut off the 
view in that direction. 



SOUTHERN OREGON. 299 

The dividing ridge of the Cascades lies at a distance of rather more than one hun- 
dred miles from the coast, to which it is parallel. The Coast Range; which also follows 
approximately the ocean line, has its highest summits at about one-fourth the distance 
mentioned. The irregularity of the latter range is very striking. The Umpqua and 
Rogue rivers have forced their way through the solid sandstone mountains, whose preci- 
pices frown over their waters. The height of the Coast Range hardly exceeds one- 
third that of the snow peaks of the Cascades, nor is its base spread out over so great 
an area. 

The country lying on the western slope of the Coast Range possesses a distinctive 
character. Its width varies from five to thirty-five miles, according to the trend of the 
mountains ; its surface is much broken, and is divided laterally by numerous streams, 
whose valleys constitute nearly all the arable land of this narrow strip. The climate is 
oceanic, a moist atmosphere prevailing, with regular sea breezes. Forests of fir, laurel 
and cedar cover almost the entire surface. The rain fall is greater than in the Umpqua 
ami Rogue river valleys, and the temperature more equable. Beginning at the Cali- 
fornia state line and proceeding northward along the coast a large number of streams 
are crossed, rising, with the exception of the Rogue and Umpqua, among the hills of the 
Coast Range. 

The flora of Southern Oregon bears distinguishing characteristics. Upon the 
flanks of the Coast Range and the country lying between those mountains and the sea, 
exists an almost interminable forest of evergreen trees — the red fir, yellow fir, white fir, 
red cedar and the white cedar. These trees grow to an enormous size and constitute 
an almost inexhaustible store of the best quality of lumber. On the eastern slope of 
the range, the oak takes the place of the gigantie conifers, and scattered groves of these 
are found until the foothills of the Cascades are reached, when the fir again becomes 
abundant. Here it is associated with the sugar pine, a species almost unknown to the 
Coast mountains. On the Cascades also grow the oak, juniper, hemlock and spruce, 
but in smaller quantities than the former trees. Here, also, the supply of timber is 
very great, and owing to the difficulty of access, is practically untouched. 

All parts of this great and interesting region are well watered. Save in some ele- 
vated regions of the extreme eastern part, hardly a quarter-section of land but possesses 
an ample supply of the clearest and coldest water Numerous streams abound and 
springs burst forth in profusion. In these mountain streams rove vast numbers offish, 
the mountain or brook trout, the salmon trout, and in its season the salmon, being the 
most valuable species. The woods abound in game; the bear, elk, deer, California lion 
and other four-footed animals not yet extirpated by the bullet of the hunter, remain to 
furnish excitement for the sportsman and a not inconsiderable supply of meat to settlers 
and the markets. Smaller animals and birds lend the attraction of their presence to a 
scene of woodland peace and beauty. 

The climate of Southern Oregon is in many respects superior to that of any other 
portion of the coast. With an ample rainfall it stands midway between the continual 
drouth of Sacramento valley and the almost perpetual winter rains of the Willamette. 
Closed in by mountain chains, it is not swept by winds heated by a long journey over 
vast stretches of level land, while across the low summits of the Coast Range steal the 
cooling breezes from the sea. Storms can not reach it with the full strength of their 



330 



SOUTHERN OREGON. 



power. Protected from hot winds in summer, and in winter coming within the influ- 
ence of that warm ocean river, the Japan current, which so modifies and tempers the 
climate of the coast from Alaska to Mexico, the climate of this region is equable, 
agreeable and healthful. With a natural drainage of its surface that renders large 
areas of swampy land impossible, this region is never afflicted by scourge or pesti- 
lence, nor has it malaria or any other prevailing disease. It is a land where fertility 
of soil, health and agreeableness of climate and beauty of scenery conspire to make 
life a pleasure to the well, and to stimulate the invalid with renewed vigor. 

Statistics of temperature and rainfall, covering any extended period, it is impossi- 
ble to obtain. Until a station of the United States signal service was established in 
Roseburg in 1877, no organized effort was made in this direction, and individuals 
seem to have been too much engrossed in the cares of business to give attention to the 
subject. We have only the record kept in Rogue river valley by a pioneer of that 
region, extending from 1854 to 1865, and the reports of the station at Roseburg since 
its founding in 1877. From these the following tables have been prepared : 

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY. 

COMPILED PROM THE RECORDS OP THE UNITED STATES SIGNAL STATION AT ROSEBURG, OREGON. 



1878. 



1879. 



January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 



Annual Means. 
Totals 



Therrnom'tr Rain- Thennom'tr. 
fall 



Max Min M'n In's Mas Min M'n 



;6.8 



33.. 6 



44 

47 8 

51.4 

51.1 

56.1 

63 

64.3 

66.3 

58.7 

49.5 

46.1 

38.1 



51.1 



8.70 
7 30 
6.36 
0.79 
1.62 
0.39 
1.18 
0.46 
1.29 
2.55 
3.55 
2.73 



36.92 



56 . 5 
66 



82.5 

84 

96 

92 

90 

72 

60 

56 

75.4 



30.8 



Rain- 
fall. 
In's. 



37.6 

44.6 

49.8 

51.4 

53.4 

60.2 

65.9 

67.3 

63.2 

52 

42.1 

39.1 



52. 2 



4.74 
4.21 
8.60 
3.67 
4.63 
0.56 
0.15 
1.47 
1. 15 
2,20 
5.79 
7.86 



45.03 



MaxjMin M'n 



1880. 



Thermom'tr. 



'5 .6 



25 

20 

19 

29.5 

33 

37.5 

45 

43 

37 

29 

17.5 

29 



30 4 



41 

37 

40 

48 

52.6 

59.3 

67 

64.4 

60.9 

51.3 

38.7 

45.5 



50.6 



Rain- 
fall. 
In's. 

9.37 
2.49 
2.81 
3.98 
1.39 
0.68 
0.01 
0.41 
0.47 
0.77 
0.77 
8.29 



31.44 



1881. 



Thermom'tr. 



Max Min M'n 



63 

80 

78 

84.5 

83.1 

90.7 

87.6 

89 

62.8 

57.8 



62.8 27.2 



33 



42.6 
49.5 
48 5 
55.1 
56.3 
59.3 
62.7 
62.5 
58.8 
47.9 
42.6 
42.5 



52. 2 



Rain 
fall. 
In's. 



11.60 
8.19 
1.95 
1.07 
0.73 
2.93 
0.79 
0.46 
0.72 
5.96 
4.15 
5.14 



43 .69 



Thermom'tr 



Max Min M'n 



53.1 
9 

80.4 
86.5 
94.6 

94.5 
87,- 
67.4 
61.3 
62.5 



76.4 



31.2 



38.6 

39.1 

13.9 

48.6 

55,5 

63 

67.5 

64.9 

59.7 

50.6 

42.4 

44.6 



51.5 



Rain- 
fall. 
Ill's. 



4.21 
6.21 
2.83 
514 
0.85 
0.61 
0.85 
0.00 
1.36 
5.02 
1.15 
6.54 



34 



TABLE OF RAINFALL. 

COMPILED PROM A PRIVATE RECORD KEPT IN ROGUE RIVER VALLEY. 



January. . . 
February . . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

J«iy 

August .... 
September. 
October. . . 
November . 
December . 



Total 15-79 



1854. 



i-5i 
.92 

.81 
2.94 

•52 
i-34 
0.00 
1.48 
0.00 

2-35 
1. 12 

1.80 



i8S5- 



•33 

.91 

2.08 

2.04 

2.60 

1.30 

.01 

0.00 

.06 

.10 

2.46 

3- °4 



H-93 



1856. 



0.00 
0.00 
. 11 
1.80 
1.88 
4-45 



1857. 



2.88 

2-33 

1.65 

0.00 

2. 15 

3-48 

.11 

0.00 

.01 

• 30 

2.83 

2.20 



2.09 

3-i7 
2.25 
1.09 
1.02 
1. 12 
0.00 
.12 
•25 
2.32 
3-i5 
3- So 



8.24 17.94 20.08 18.08 



1859. 

4.41 
2.07 
3-97 
1-73 

•75 
0.00 
0.00 

.12 
1.26 

•5i 
2.9.S 

.81 



i860. ! 1861. 



1862. 



1-39 
1.06 
1. 15 
1.02 
2.21 
1.74 
2.15 
.07 

•33 

1.86 

2-75 
3-3i 



19.04 



1. 71 
1.78 
1.07 
1.29 
1-03 

i-i3 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 

■63 

7.82 

10. 11 



4.66 
2.32 
1.94 

•97 
3-74 
2-54 

.21 
0.00 

.24 
1.26 
o 00 
2.18 



1863. 



1864. 



5.05 
5.82 

303 

3.06 

1. 21 

.66 

•74 
.11 

•73 

•30 

i-59 

5.22 



26.57 20.06 27.79 29.72 21.83 



3.18 

•23 

2.83 

1.89 

i-95 

1.27 

0.00 

.10 

■45 

•37 

5-86 

12.09 



1865. 



1.42 
1.67 
1. 41 

.68 

•27 
.61 
.76 
.16 
1. 10 

•63 
9.06 
4.06 



First six months of 1856 not observed. 



Average for ten years, 23.18 inches. 



Within the bounds of Southern Oregon is found a population of about thirty 
thousand souls, pioneers and their descendants, who redeemed this beautiful region 
from the domination of savage tribes and brought it within the dominion of civiliza- 
tion. In the forty years of its history much has been accomplished. The primeval 
forests have been leveled. The fire of many a domestic hearth burns brightly in a 
land which not many years ago was a wilderness. The old story of' j)ioneer life is 



jJHUHffiKK$£ IffiKW 




■"■'■I -l -if^ \ T^,\% 



SOUTHERN OREGON. 301 

repeated here on this western shore by those to whom hardship and adventure were as 
second nature. Over this region, now fruitful in grain, the wild and debased Indian 
once roamed, an object of dread and danger. Bloody and fierce were the conflicts he 
waged against the superior race, fast despoiling him of his heritage, and the crimson 
history of Avar attests his valor and stubbornness. The Indian has melted away before 
the approach of the Caucasian, like snow beneath a noonday sun. Rude domestic 
utensils, and the arrow-heads fallen on many a bloody battle-field remain as sole 
mementos of a departed race. 

The history of Southern Oregon as a distinct section, aside from the Indian war 
already related, will be given by counties and localities, the annals of each being 
made as complete as possible ; yet, perhaps, a few introductory remarks may not be 
out of place. 

The progress of discovery and settlement of Oregon lias been fully detailed in 
the preceding pages. The few facts relating especially to this region may be sum- 
marized as the landing of Sir Francis Drake's pilot [see page 20] ; the discovery, 
possibly, of the mouth of either the Rogue or Umpqua river by Martin de Aguilar in 
1603 [see page 30] ; the destruction of Jedediah S. Smith's party and the passage 
through this region of the first Hudson's Bay Company trappers under Alexander 
Roderick McLeod [see pages 119 to 122]. From that time forward Southern Oregon 
was for a number of years traversed by parties of Hudson's Bay Company men, passing 
to and from the rich trapping grounds of California, or setting their traps for beaver 
in the many streams of this region. Fort Umpqua, in Yoncalla valley, was erected by 
that company as a headquarters for operations in this section. In 1837 a large band 
of cattle was driven through from California [see pages 130 and 131], and other bands 
subsequently, while annually, beginning with 1843, emigrants passed backwards and 
forwards between the Willamette valley and California. 

In the month of September, 1841, a detachment of the celebrated exploring 
expedition of Commodore Charles Wilkes passed through this region on its way from 
Vancouver to Yerba Buena (San Francisco). It consisted of Lieutenant George F- 
Emmons, in command, Past Midshipman Henry Eld, Past Midshipman George W. 
Colovcoressis, Assistant Surgeon J. S. Whittle, and thirty-four others, among whom 
were J. D. Dana, the celebrated geologist, and a number of emigrants including women 
and children. Their impressions of the country are recorded in United States Explor- 
ing Expedition, Vol. 5, from which the following facts are gleaned : 

The detachment took its departure from Fort Umpqua, in Yoncalla valley, on 
the eighteenth of September, having been warned by Mr. Gamier, agent in charge, 
that the party was entirely too small to safely traverse the Umpqua, Rogue river and 
Shasta countries, since he had reliable information that the Indians, who were Avell 
aware of their approach, were massing at various points to cut them off. By using 
the utmost prudence and diligence and permitting no strange Indians to enter the camp, 
Lieutenant Emmons conducted his party safely through the Umpqua region and across 
the Umpqua mountains to Rogue river valley and camped on the banks of " Rogues, 
or Tootootutnas river." " They had now" says the report, " reached the country of 
the Klamet Indians, better known as the Rogues or Rascals, which name they have 
obtained from the hunters, from the many acts of villainy they have practiced." 



302 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Special mention is made of the place on Young's creek where Dr. Bailey was defeated, 
and of the scene of Turner's heroic battle on Rogue river. These places were no 
doubt jDointed out by the trappers engaged to accompany the party, and the story of 
Turner's combat as related by them to Lieutenant Emmons was as follows : A party 
of nine American trappers, some of them accompanied by their Indian wives, were 
encamped on the river one day in 1835. They had heedlessly permitted large num- 
bers of Indians to enter the camp, and these suddenly fell upon the whites, killing two 
of them and wounding the others. Turner, who was a powerful man, snatched a 
brand from the fire and disabled several of the assailants, until his wife brought him 
a rifle, with which he killed a number of the Indians and drove the others away. 
With his wounded companions he managed to reach the settlements in the Willamette. 
At another point on the river, where the report says that Michael Laframboise, the 
California leader of Hudson's Bay Company parties, had been twice attacked, the 
Indians made threatening demonstrations but no actual attack. On the twenty-ninth 
they crossed Siskiyou mountain, or Boundary ridge, as called in the report. Dense 
columns of signal smoke were continually observed, announcing their approach to 
tribes in advance. Mention is made on the ascent of Siskiyou mountain of a narrow 
defile, and of a party of fifteen, which was " defeated here by the Indians, some three 
years ago. One of their number was killed, and two died of their wounds on the 
Umpqua, whither they were obliged to retreat, although they had forced the Indians 
back with great loss." This refers to Ewing Young's cattle company in 1837, [see 
page 130], one of whom, Tibbats, was in Emmons' party. All these dangerous places 
were safely passed, and the party crossed into California without molestation. 

In 1846 a number of settlers in the upper end of Willamette valley explored a 
route for an emigrant road through Southern Oregon to Fort Hall, and as this was the 
first effort to render this region approachable for settlers, it is of considerable historical 
importance. The following summary of the passage of the party from the Willamette 
to Klamath lake, is taken from a diary narrative of the trip by Lindsay Aj^plegate, 
one of the explorers. Though many unimportant paragraphs and sentences are 
omitted, the language used is all that of the venerable pioneer. The narrative says : 

" From what information we could gather from old pioneers and the Hudson's 
Bay Company, the Cascade mountains to the south became very low, or terminated 
where the Klamath cut that chain; and knowing that the Blue mountains lay east and 
west, we concluded there must be a belt of country extending east toward the South 
pass of the Rocky mountains where there might be no vast, lofty ranges to cross. So, 
in 1846, we organized a company to undertake its exploration, composed of the fol- 
lowing persons : Levi Scott, John Scott, Henry Boggus, Lindsay Applegate, Jesse 
Applegate, Benjamin Burch, John Owens, John Jones, Robert Smith, Samuel Goodhue, 
Moses Harris, David Goff, Benit Osborn, William Sportsman, and William Parker. 
Each man was provided with a saddle horse and a pack horse, making thirty animals. 

" A portion of the country we purposed to traverse was at that time marked on 
the map ' unexplored region.' All the information we could get relative to it was 
through the Hudson's Bay Company. Peter Ogden, an officer of that company, 
who had led a party of trappers through that region, represented that portions of it 
-were desert-like, and that at one time his company was so pressed for the want of 



SOUTHERN OREGON. 303 

water that they went to the top of a mountain, filled sacks with snow, and were thus 
able to cross the desert. He also stated that portions of the country through which 
we would have to travel, were infested with fierce and warlike savages, who would 
attack every party entering their country, steal their traps, waylay and murder the 
men, and that Rogue river had taken its name from the character of the Indians 
inhabiting its valleys. The idea of opening a wagon road through such a country at 
that time, was scouted as preposterous. These statements, though based on facts, we 
thought might be exaggerated by the Hudson's Bay Company in their own interest, 
since they had a line of forts on the Snake river route, reaching from Fort Hall to 
Vancouver, and were prepared to profit by the immigration. One thing which had 
much influence with us was the fact that the question as to which power, Great Britain 
or the United States, would eventually secure a title to the country, was not settled, 
and in case a war should occur and Britain prove successful, it was important to have 
a way by which we could leave the country without running the gauntlet of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company forts and falling a prey to Indian tribes which were under British 
influence. 

" June twentieth, 1846, we gathered on the La Creole, near where Dallas now 
stands, moved up the valley and encamped for the night on Mary's river, near where 
the town of Corvallis has since been built. 

:■: :•: £ :•; ■]: 

" The next morning, June twenty-third, we moved on through the grassy oak 
hills and narrow valleys, to the North Umpqua river. The crossing was a rough and 
dangerous one, as the river bed was a mass of loose rocks, and, as we were crossing, 
our horses occasionally fell, giving the riders a severe ducking. 

" On the morning of the twenty-fourth, we left camp early and moved on about 
five miles to the south branch of the Umpqua, a considerable stream, probably sixty 
yards wide, coming from the eastward. Traveling up that stream almost to the place 
where the old trail crosses the Umpqua mountains, we encamped for the night opposite 
the historic Umpqua canyon. 

"The next morning, June twenty-fifth, we entered the canyon, followed up the 
little stream that runs through the defile for four or five miles, crossing the creek a 
great many times, but the canyon becoming more obstructed with brush and fallen 
timber, the little trail we were following turned up the side of the ridge, where the 
woods were more open, and wound its way to the top of the mountain. It then bore 
south along a narrow backbone of the mountain, the dense thickets and the rocks on 
either side affording splendid opportunities for ambush. A short time before this, a 
party coming from California, had been attacked on this summit-ridge by the Indians 
and one of them had been severely wounded. Several of the horses had also been 
shot with arrows. Along this trail we picked up a number of broken and shattered 
arrows. "We could see that a large party of Indians had passed over the trail traveling- 
southward only a few days before. 

" On the morning of the twenty-sixth we divided our forces, part going back to 
explore the canyon, while the remainder stayed to guard the camp and horses. The 
exploring party went back to where we left the canyon on the little trail the day before, 



304 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

and returning through the canyon, came into camp after night, reporting that wagons 
could be taken through. 

" Making an early start we moved on very cautiously. Whenever the trail 
passed through thickets we dismounted and led our horses, having our guns in hand 
ready at any moment to use them in self-defense, for we had adopted this rule, never 
to be the aggressor. Towards evening we saw a great many Indians posted along the 
mountain side, and now and then running ahead of us. As we advanced toward the 
river, the Indians in large numbers occupied the river bank near where the trail 
crossed. Having understood that this crossing was a favarite place of attack, we 
decided as it was growing late, to pass the night in the prairie. 

" In selecting our camp on Rogue river, we observed the greatest caution. Cutting 
stakes from the limbs of an old oak that stood in the open ground, we picketed our 
horses with double stakes as firmly as possible. The horses were picketed in the form 
of a hollow square, outside of which we took up our positions. We kept vigilant guard 
during the night, and, the next morning could see the Indians occupying the same 
position as at dark. There had been a heavy dew, and fearing the effects of the damp- 
ness upon our fire-arms, which were muzzle-loaders, of course, and some of them with 
flint-locks, Ave fired them off and re-loaded. In moving forward we formed two divis- 
ions, with the 2>ack horses behind. On reaching the river bank the front division fell 
behind the pack horses and drove them over, while the rear division faced the brush, 
with gun in hand, until the front division was safely over. Then they turned about, 
and the rear division passed over under protection of their rifles. The Indians watched 
the performance from their places of concealment, but there was no chance for them to 
make an attack without exposing themselves to our fire. The river was deep and 
rapid, and for a short distance some of the smaller animals had to swim. Had we 
rushed pell mell into the stream, as parties sometimes do under such circumstances, our 
expedition would probably have come to an end there. 

" After crossing, we turned up the river, and the Indians in large numbers came 
out of the thickets on the opposite side and tried in every way to j)rovoke us. There 
appeared to be a great commotion among them. A party had left the French settle- 
ment in the Willamette some three or four weeks before us, consisting of French, half- 
breeds, Columbia Indians and a few Americans ; probably about eighty in all. Pass- 
ing one of their encampments we could see by the sign that they were only a short 
distance ahead of us. We afterward learned that the Rogue Rivers had stolen some of 
their horses, and that an effort to recover them had caused the delay. From our camp 
we could see numerous signal fires on the mountains to the eastward. 

" On the morning of June 29th, we passed over a low range of hills, from the 
summit of which we had a splendid view of Rogue river valley. It seemed like a 
great meadow, interspersed with groves of oaks which appeared like vast orchards. 
All day long we traveled over rich black soil covered with rank grass, clover and pea- 
yine, and at night encamped near the other party on the stream now known as Emi- 
grant creek, near the foot of the Siskiyou mountains. This night, the Indians having 
gone to the mountains to ambush the French company as we afterwards learned, we 
were not disturbed. Here our course diverged from that of the other company, they 





:-'■■; ".■-i'. i .~-. - : 



33 

m 



m 

CO 

CD 

rn 

z 

m 



> 
2 
-a 

m 

3D 
CO 

3: 

CD 



33 

>■ 

CD 

a 
r- 
-o 
ac 

c-3 

CD 
CD 
CD 

CT3 

CD 



mi 

'-■Z-%- 



; "■■•'^t 



■liStf 




: *i 








--■ 



s?^#?rt^" 



?yi>Wi ' 



SOUTHERN OREGON 305 

following the old California trail across the Siskiyou, while our route was eastward 
through an unexplored region several hundred miles in extent. 

" Spending most of the day in examining the hills about the stream now called 
Keene creek, near the summit of the Siskiyou ridge we moved on down through the 
heavy forests of pine, fir and cedar, and encamped early in the evening, in a little val- 
ley, now known as Round prairie. On the morning of July 1st, being anxious to know 
what we were to find ahead, we made an early start. This morning we observed the 
track of a lone horse leading eastward, thinking it had been made by some Indian 
horseman, on his way from Rogue river to the Klamath country, we undertook to fol- 
low it. This we had no trouble in doing, as it had been made in the spring, while the 
ground was damp and was very distinct, until we came to a very rough rocky ridge 
where we lost it. 

* & ♦ £: :£ 

" The next day, July 3rd, we again traveled northward, further than before, mak- 
ing a more complete examination of the couutry than we had previously done, and at 
last found what seemed to be a practicable pass. Near this was a rich grassy valley 
through which ran a little stream, and here we encamped for the night. This valley 
is now known as Long prairie. 

" After crossing the summit of the Cascade ridge, the descent was, in places, very 
rapid. At noon we came out into a glade where there was water and grass and from 
which we could see the Klamath river. After noon we moved down through an 
immense forest, principally of yellow pine, to the river, and then traveled up the north 
bank, still through yellow pine forests, for about six miles, when all at once we came 
out in full view of the Klamath country, extending eastward as far as the eye could 
reach. It was an exciting moment, after the many days spent in the dense forests and 
among mountains, and the whole party broke forth in cheer after cheer." [For the 
conclusion of this expedition the reader is referred to page 148 of this volume, and 
for the contemporaneous visit of Fremont to page 187.] 

Such are the material events of Southern Oregon prior to its settlement, and the 
plan of this work does not embrace any further generalization of events. The details of 
occurrences and early settlements will be found carefully arranged by counties and 
recited in the history of the special locality in which thev occurred. 

40 



. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



« — » — —*- 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

GEOGRAPHY OF JACKSON COUNTY. 

Jackson County — Its Situation and Boundaries — Extent of Surface— Diversity of Scenery— Mountain Ranges— 
The Country a Basin— Mt. Pitt — Crater Lake— The Upper Rogue River— Rogue River— Origin of Name- 
Smaller Streams — Bear Creek Valley. 

Jackson county occupies a position on the southeastern angle of Southern Oregon, 
and comprises about two-sevenths of the aggregate area of that division of the state. 
In form it is nearly square, and its boundaries are mainly composed of straight lines, 
Avhich have directions towards the cardinal points. More minutely, the southern 
boundary — co-incident with the northern boundary of California — is forty-eight miles 
long and runs due east and west. The eastern boundary, dividing Jackson and Klam- 
ath counties, is ninety miles in length, and its direction is north and south, or making 
a right angle with the southern boundary. The northern boundary separates Jackson 
from Douglas county, and follows the summit of the high land or divide between the 
Rogue river and South Umpqua, having a curved course bending southwesterly. The 
fourth side of the square is formed by the boundary between Josephine and Jackson, 
and is an arbitrary and broken line, made up of three straight lines which coincide 
with township boundaries. This dividing line measures fifty-one miles in length, and 
terminates on the California line at the point where Jackson, Josephine and Siskiyou 
counties meet. All these boundaries, excepting the western, although the eastern and 
southern are straight lines, conform very closely to natural lines of division. As for 
the southern, it follows the course of the lofty Siskiyou range, which naturally sepa- 
rates Oregon from California ; on the east the water-shed between the Rogue river 
basin and the Klamath lake region approximates with the separating line of Klamath 
and Jackson counties ; northwardly, nature has built up the Canyon mountains as a 
barrier between the Rogue river and Umpqua regions, and man has accepted them as 
marking the political divisions of the two counties. 

To recapitulate : Douglas county lies on the north of Jackson, Klamath on the 
east, Josephine on the west, and Siskiyou county, California, on the south. The area 
of Jackson county is approximately .3,000 square miles, or to be more precise, contains 
the equivalent of eighty-one townships of thirty-six square miles each, or 2,916 square 
miles. Rendered in acres this is equal to no less a number than 1,866,240 — an area 
not far short of the size of Connecticut, and nearly twice that of Rhode Island. 

Within this large tract is a great diversity of land and scenery. The whole 
region is broken up into valleys, and mountain and hill ranges, aclown or between 
which flow streams which find their way to the Rogue river. Excej)ting a small por- 
tion of the southeastern corner of the county, all its waters make their way to that 
stream, tributary to it, as all their valleys are tributary to the central valley of the 



JACKSON COUNTY. 307 

Rogue river. The word basin describes the general aspect of* the country ; all around, 
excepting upon its western border, lie lofty mountain ranges hemming in the valley of 
the Rogue as with a wall. On the south the Siskiyou, on the east the Cascades, on the 
north the Canyon mountains, form majestic barriers to isolate the basin of the Rogue 
river. The highest point of these natural bulwarks approaches 9,000 feet. Mount 
Pitt, otherwise called McLaughlin, lying nearly in the center of the eastern boundary, 
has been accredited with a height of 9,250 feet, or the same altitude as Mount Thiel- 
sen iknown to the people of Jackson county as Diamond peak, but called by moun- 
taineers Cow-horn peak), which lies a few miles beyond the northeasternmost point of 
Jackson county. At the foot of Thielsen heads Rogue river ; which, pursuing its pre- 
cipitous way southwestward between steep mountain sides forming a stupendous canyon, 
runs on to the wide valley below, where the mountains sink into hills and finally are 
lost at the junction of many streams. Rising at an altitude of over 6,000 feet the 
Rogue pursues its tortuous course for a hundred miles before passing the boundaries of 
Jackson county, and in that distance arrives at a level of about 1,000 feet above tide- 
water as it enters Josephine county. The altitude then of the lowest point in Jackson 
county may be taken as 1,000 feet, this point being a short distance below Grant's 
Pass, on the extreme western edge of the county. The utmost depth of the basin of 
Rogue river, accordingly reaches 3,000 feet if we assume 4,000 feet as the least altitude 
of the wall of mountains which surrounds the basin, and the estimate is doubtless cor- 
rect with respect to all but those mountains which lie to the northwest, which may 
fall somewhat short of these figures. 

Thus far no exact determinations of altitude have been undertaken with respect 
to the mountains of Southern Oregon. The railroad peojDle have indeed surveyed the 
points which lie upon their route, and private surveyors have reported upon the 
heights of many points upon county and other roads; but no exact scientific measure- 
ments have been undertaken as to the higher summits of the Cascades. From the notes 
of engineers who have surveyed the California and Oregon boundary line, we take the 
following excerpts : 

" The line traverses Lower Klamath lake thirteen miles ; thence ascending a very 
broken, rough and timbered country it crosses Klamath river at a point 104i miles 
from the ocean; it then takes over high, rocky mountains cut by the deep canyons of 
Long Prairie and Jenny creeks, between which two streams it reaches the southern 
extremity of the eastern boundary of Jackson county at a point ninety-eight miles 
from the Pacific ocean. At seventy-nine and a half miles from the Pacific it crosses 
the Oregon and California stage road, just north of Cole's station. Thence ascending 
to the summit of the Siskiyou range, and leaving the Hungry creek mines in Cali- 
fornia, the line crosses the head of Applegate valley, leaving the southwestern corner 
of Jackson county, which is just fifty and one-half miles from the Pacific. Thence 
passing over exceedingly rugged mountains it continues five miles south of the 
Althouse, and crosses the Illinois river at the junction of its forks, and three miles 
south of Waldo. This point is twenty-eight miles from the Pacific." 

The Siskiyou chain attain a lofty height, being piled up quite to the line of 
perpetual snow. These elevations exceed in altitude any summit east of the Missis- 
sippi, and are only second to the majestic Cascades themselves. Their aspect is rugged 



308 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

in the extreme. Huge cliffs tower aloft, the main range sends forth many 
off-shoots, and profound canyons penetrate its dense recesses. Over this grand 
wall of granite, sandstone and basalt a wagon road, projected early and 
begun in 1849, passes, to accommodate travel between California and Oregon. 
A few miles west of the road Pilot rock towers aloft, a column-like mass of 
basalt, a thousand feet high and barely half that in diameter at its base. A noted 
landmark this, and known and noticed since the earliest times. On the sides of the 
range and perhaps a mile in elevation above the present sea level, sea shells are found, 
a never-ceasing source of wonder to the observer, whose cogitations find vent in 
repeating the truism that "the sea must have covered the whole country in early 
times." Mineral springs, thermal springs and springs of water of supposed medicinal 
qualities abound. Soda springs of great capacity exist and a "health resort" of wide 
celebrity may be expected to ensue in future. 

The eastern boundary of the Rogue river basin is composed as already hinted, of 
the summits of the Cascade mountains. This stupendous range it will be observed, 
extends north and south and divides the basin of Klamath lake from the country 
tributary to Rogue river. Approaching Klamath river the vast bulwark of hills and 
mountains sinks gradually until its greatest elevation, instead of presenting the aspect 
of a mountain range, is simply a plateau whose streams course indifferently to the east 
or west. Its height is about 4,000 feet; its surface is mainly covered with prairies and 
open glades. This portion, mainly inhabited by a few cattle-raisers and herdsmen, is 
of some agricultural value, and is capable of supporting the flocks and herds of quite a 
population. 

Further north rises the majestic cone of Pitt — the Mont Blanc of Southern 
Oregon. Its summit, coated with the un melted snow of ages, rears itself aloft, an 
enduring landmark to the £>eople of two counties. Few scenes partake so much of 
sublimity as the view of the white summit of this grand mountain outlined against the 
clear sky of that elevated region. All its neighboring summits are dwarfs in compari- 
son, and for a hundred miles on either hand no rival rises. In form the huge peak is 
more nearly faultless than any other in the Cascades or Sierra Nevada, only St. Helens 
being worthy of comparison with it in this respect. The usual asperities of mountain 
peaks are absent here, where a symmetrical cone rises through the clear sky, covered 
with snow and belted beneath by a zone of ever-green trees, scattered in the upper 
regions but growing more and more thickly toward the base, and where the mountain 
broadens out into the plateau, merging into a gloriously dense and majestic forest. 

But grand and imposing as Pitt is, nature has set near it a rival wonder more 
remarkable and more unique. Indeed, in point of uniqueness it is unrivalled upon 
the known face of the earth. This is Crater lake, of which those who have seen it 
have borne away recollections never to be erased. The pen and pencil of many visi- 
tors have been busy with its description and photographs have aided to afford an 
accurate conception of the glories of this tremendous work of nature. One who saw it, 
wrote: "The greatest curiosity of this region and one of the greatest of the whole 
northwest, is Crater lake, in the very summit of the Cascades, seventy-five miles 
northeast of Jacksonville. Its remoteness from the usual routes of travel has kept it 
in comparative seclusion; but more are attracted hither yearly, and it will, in the 



JOSBPHHTB 



COTJNTY 



Q 

!> 

H 



H 

l> 



o 



x 

"0 

o 

H 
r - 
> 

■z. 
o 

o 

3D 
m 

O 




:xrny~±o:~T. 




* * 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be inserted at a future date. 




JACKSON COUNTY. 



309 



future, be one of the regular objects visited by tourists iu this region. It has been 
variously known as Blue lake, Deep lake and Lake Majesty, but the more appropriate 
title it now bears will no doubt remain with it forever. In approaching the visitor 
suddenly finds himself upon the edge of a tremendous precipice, and looking across a 
wide stretch of water that lies far beneath. The shores vary from 1,500 to 3,000 feet 
in height, To be critical, there is no shore, for only at one point can a sure-footed 
person descend the cliff to the lake level, and when there the presence of a few boul- 
ders and some fallen debris is all that indicates a shore. The waters are wide, deep 
and silent. It is seldom that a breeze disturbs them, but at moments a wierd breath 
moves softly along and breaks the calm surface into ripples. Looking across from the 
surrounding wall the sky is seen so perfectly reflected in the water that were it not for 
the rocky margin of the lake it would be impossible to discern the line of division. The 
circumference is more than twenty miles, and the altitude of its surface as great as the 
summit of the pass over the mountains. On^the outside the steep w T alls shelve off into 
mountain ridges, w r ooded to the top; on the inside they stand almost perpendicular, 
looking down forever on the captive sea. 

In the early years, before the wide scope of country to the east was covered up 
with lava and ashes, there must have stood here one of the grandest mountains of the 
world. How immense this great volcano must have been can be imagined when it is 
realized that these walls that now stand from 7,500 to 9,000 feet high, are only the 
shell of the mountain as it once existed. With a base of twenty miles in circumfer- 
ence, at a height of 7,000 feet, what must have been the altitude of the cone that was 
reared above it? Beside it Hood, Shasta and Tacoma would hide their diminished 
heads. That such a mountain once stood here as an active volcano can not be doubted. 
The country to the east for many square miles is buried beneath ashes, pumice and 
volcanic scoria, To the terrible convulsions of nature, those miles of desolation, those 
rocky walls and this vast crater bear witness. In the midst of the lake rises a perfect 
but extinct volcano, at least 1,500 feet in height, its sides fringed with a stunted 
growth of hemlock. The lava flowing from this has made an island in the lake at 
least three miles long. The cone has a dish-like depression in its apex, which shows 
w r here once its crater was, and into which one can look from a position on the bluffs 
above. The period of the first great eruption was followed by a season of rest and then 
a second eruption, during which the small cone was formed by the final effort of the 
expiring forces. Burning lava flowed fiercely down its sides, where now the dwarfed 
hemlock has gained a precarious foothold and seeks to hide its ugliness beneath a 
mantle of vegetation. 

The Indians view Crater lake and its surroundings as holy ground, and approach 
it with reverence and awe. It is one of the earthly spots made sacred by the presence 
of the Great Spirit, and the ancient tribal traditions relate many mysterious incidents 
in connection with it. In the past none but medicine men visited it, and when one of 
the tribe felt called upon to become a teacher and healer, he spent several weeks on the 
shore of the lake in fasting, in communion with the dead, and in prayer to the 
Shahullah Tyee. Here they saw visions and dreamed dreams, and when they 
came down from the mountain, like Moses from Sinai, they were looked up to with 
reverence as having communed with the Great Spirit, and seen the unknown world." 



310 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Another writer, more flowery and voluminous, published iii the State Line Herald 
his impressions of a trip to the wonderful lake, which are here reproduced as contain- 
ing much valuable information of the country through which the traveler passes on 
his way to the lake. The most usual, and, in fact, the only route from the inhabited 
portion of Jackson county, lies along the Rogue river, passing up that stream for 
many miles. The story of the journey is thus told: Some there are who have 
traversed the Alps and the Appenines, have visited Yosemite and Tahoe, only to stand 
entranced on the brink of this once mighty cauldron and look with silent awe into its 
awful depth; or, turning, view with rapture the beautiful landscape spread out like a 
map below and around them. The roads leading to this wonderful spot, too, are 
fruitful of other treats in the rugged grandeur of this picturesque range. The best 
time for visiting Crater lake is in the month of August, before the snows of autumn 
come to block the way, or her frost to bite the wanderer, or blight the verdure so near 
these lofty summits. The location of the spot we seek is twenty-five miles in a 
northerly direction from Fort Klamath, near the northwest border of Lake county, 
Oregon, and is directly on the summit of the Cascade range, at an elevation of 9,000 
feet above the level of the sea. Leaving the California and Oregon stage line at Jack- 
sonville or Ashland, in Rogue River valley, having first provided ourselves with all the 
necessary accoutrements and paraphernalia for camp and mountain travel, we start in 
a northerly direction for the banks of Rogue river. The Rogue river road to Fort 
Klamath is a reasonably good one at this season of the year, and will bear us within 
three or four miles of the lake, which is about ninety miles distant from our starting 
point. 

" Having reached and crossed the river at Hannah's ferry, we turned our course 
"up stream. As we move on, the valley grows narrower and farms and farm houses are 
fewer, while the rapid river grows swifter, the forest denser and more rugged. Fifty 
miles of our journey brings us to 'the bridge.' Here the river has narrowed to seventy- 
five feet in width and runs with fearful rapidity between steep and rocky banks. In a 
distance of one and a half miles from this point the river falls 300 feet and passes 
through a deep gorge in the mountains, rushing at times down a steep declivity, then 
leaping impetuously from rock to rock, lashing itself into fury and foam, whirling in 
eddies or resting a moment in some protected basin before plunging fifty feet with a 
rush and roar, ouly to repeat the same wild phantasies as it rolls wildly on to the ocean. 
Ere reaching the foot of the first rapids, the roar of the mighty waters in the distance 
rises above the din of those at our feet, and moving as rapidly as the character of the 
country will permit, we discover through the trees the snowy foam of the great falls or 
one branch of the river as it plunges with a single leap over a perpendicular cliff 184 
feet, without a break, into the rapid flood below. The fall is one of the finest to be 
found in these wild and solitary regions. 

* 

" Old bruin of the grizzly species, is found in great numbers ; deer, elk, and other 
game are also plentiful. Leaving the roar and gloom about the falls of Rogue river? 
we journey on towards our destination, which is still forty miles away. Our road lies 
through one of the finest forests of the state. Here the sugar pine and fir grow to the 
height of 250 and 300 feet, with diameter in many instances from six to ten feet, and 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



311 



will doubtless some day be utilized with great profit. For many miles there is nothing 
to vary the monotony of this interminable forest, until we find our road running along 
the edge of a canyon which by time and water has been washed down the mountain 
sides to considerable depth. This wash occurred many years ago as the forest trees 
have grown in it to an enormous size. The great curiosity of this canyon, however, 
ate the columns or pyramids of rocky cement standing at the bottom of the gorge, and 
with a base of thirty or forty feet, reach a height of seventy-five or one hundred. These 
pyramids have evidently been composed of a harder substance than that which sur- 
rounded them and did not yield so readily to the action of water ; hence, were thus 
preserved as items in the great panorama of curiosities to be found in this wild region. 

"Having reached a point within ten or twelve miles of the summit of the moun- 
tain, our road becomes gradually steeper and more difficult to ascend. Here, too, 
evidences of volcanic action are more apparent. Great masses of pumice stone and 
lava are seen scattered about. The character of vegetation gradually changes, and fir 
predominates in this altitude. When three miles from the summit, we turn to the 
left, and after toiling for a mile over scoria, pumice and lava, we go into camp and pre- 
pare to make the remaining two miles, which is quite steep, on horseback or afoot. 
The weather for camping is excellent, and the denseness of the fir timber gives pro- 
tection from the winds. Open glades at hand present a very tempting feast for our 
jaded horses and we soon have the satisfaction of seeing them revelling in clover and 
redtop, knee high, while the rippling sound of the many pebbly brooks near by give 
assurance of an abundance of nature's beverage as pure as though just distilled from 
drops of pearly dew. 

"It is well to take the early morn for the remainder of our journey, and breathe 
the morning air from the mountain tops. A night's rest in these high altitudes, coffee 
and bacon before sunrise, and the invigorating air give life and vigor, and soon we 
find ourselves tripping up the mountain at a rate only to be maintained a few moments 
without rest. The ascent is not remarkably steep — in fact wagons can be driven to 
the very brink — yet at such an altitude the air is very rare and light and one soon 
becomes exhausted and overcome by exertion. As we advance, the scenery about us 
changes rapidly, yet there is no indication of a body of w r ater ahead ; in fact we 
appear to have reached an elevation beyond w r hich it is not reasonable to expect it. 
The trees become more dwarfish and scraggy. The grass is less abundant, and we 
miss the brooks and springs so plentiful just below. We halt now and then beneath 
the shade of thick clusters of fir, to gather breath and rest our weary limbs. Occa- 
sionally through openings in the trees we get glimpses of towering peaks, deep gorges 
and wide spreading forests in the distance. All at once and without a moment's warn- 
ing we find ourselves emerging from the timber into an amphitheater-like opening. 
Towering rocks rise up on either hand and in front and point skyward ; around and 
about us is spread a scene of desolation. Huge masses of lava, ashes, pumice stone 
and rocks of igneous formation lie scattered about. Just beyond us rise a semi-circle 
of peaks towering from 500 to 1,000 feet above us and encircling an area of about 
eight by fifteen miles. A few minutes more bring us to the brink of Crater lake, 
where, standing on a pinnacle of rocks, we gaze with silent wonder into its awful 
depths. None can look upon the scene without feeling a sense of his own insignifi- 



312 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

cance steal over him, and he involuntarily shudders, in contemplating the awful work 
wrought by an unseen and mighty power." 

Though second to the scenery of the Cascades in grandeur, attractiveness and 
renown, the natural beauties of the various subordinate mountain ranges yet deserve 
remark and close scrutiny. The Canyon mouutains, the ranges bordering upon the 
valley of the Applegate, and the mountains about Butte creek possess characteristics of 
such interest as in any country but Southern Oregon would bring celebrity. There is 
much even in the tamer scenery of the valleys to excite the imagination, kindle curios- 
ity and gratify the taste of a thinking mind. Nowhere else in America, possibly not 
in the world have the forces of nature so conspired to beautify and render a region 
thoroughly delightful as in the Rogue river valley. Men of taste and experience have 
with unanimity pronounced it unrivalled in its own beauty and in the grandeur of its 
surroundings. All that nature could yield of majesty in altitude, of magnificence in 
distance and of variety in coloring has been lavished upon the Rogue river valley in 
unstinted measure. 

The diversity of scenery is pleasing in the extreme. After a long ride on steep 
mountain grades, through narrow canyons or dense forests the traveler, ascending a 
commanding elevation, catches as it were a glimpse of Paradise in the rolling hills and 
the lovely plain checkered with ploughed or green fields and diversified with streams 
whose borders are fringed by the oak or the lofty cone-bearing trees. Range after 
range of hills, low in the fore-ground, but successively rising in elevation until they 
assume the dignity of mountains, intercept the vision, and leave the imagination to con- 
ceive of the picturesque valleys and pleasant streams embraced between them. Finally, 
and as a fitting termination to such a scene, the sharp pointed summit of the lofty Cas- 
cades rise overtopping all else. The poet of Southern Oregon has not yet begun to 
sing, but no one can doubt that there is enough of poetical grandeur and beauty in 
these mountains and vales to furnish inspiration for the deepest and mightiest of songs. 
The Rogue river, a stream of great celebrity and historical importance, forming, 
perhaps, the most noticeable geographical feature of this region, was called by the 
natives Trashit. Its English name was early applied, but the origin of the designa- 
tion is now only a matter of conjecture. It is usually taken for granted that it was a 
term of reproach applied by early travelers to the Indians upon its banks. Archbishop 
Blanchet wrote: "Rogue river, Rogue river valley, in French is La riviere aux 
Coquins, La vallee aux Coquins — so-called on account of the wickedness of the 
Indians in that part of the country." It is well known that the first class of travelers 
through the region were trappers of the Hudson's Bay company, a majority of whom 
were of French descent and spoke the French language. They gave names to certain 
geographical features of the country, some of which are still in vogue. The designa- 
tion adduced by the reverend writer fully translated would be equivalent to the 
English word Rogue, which would reasonably enough be preferred by Americans, in 
default of a more characteristic term. Another hypothesis derives the name from the 
French word rouge, red, and supports this by saying that the stream has or had a 
peculiar reddish tinge, derivable, perhaps, from the sediment brought down by high 
water. An apocryphal story is instanced to the effect that a French vessel, passing 
the mouth of the river, observed the deep hue of the waters, and gave in consequence 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



313 



the name rouge. Still others have said that the cliffs at the mouth of the river, bear- 
ing a reddish tint were seen by the French vessel, whence the name Riviere Rouge, 
or Red river. But it is evident that the hypothesis of a French vessel on this part of 
the coast is an invention and an unnecessary one, because of the presence of the 
French Hudson Bay explorers on shore. These two derivations of the name do not 
by any means possess equal claims to credence, for the latter is intrinsically the most 
reasonable. There is hardly a doubt but that the French trappers named the stream, 
as they were wont to bestow numerous geographical terms, some of which are yet in 
vogue, as the Coquille, The Dalles, Des Chutes, Malheur, etc. But be it understood, 
they were in the habit of bestowing geographical names derived .from physical pecu- 
liarities, and not by any means from moral attributes. It would have been in keeping 
with their customs to name this stream Riviere Rouge, but not Riviere au.v Oojuins. 
We search in vain for the latter designation upon the map of British North America, 
their abiding place and from whence they crossed the Rocky mountains to the Pacific 
shore: but we find several Rivieres Rouges, two considerable waterways in the United 
States having once borne that name, but now known as Red river. Again, the 
Indians must have been named after the river, and not the river from the Indians, 
since we never hear or see the designation Rogue Indians, but always Rogue River 
Indians. Hence it follows that as the river received its name first, that name could 
only have been Rouge, as Coquin would be entirely inapplicable to a stream of water. 
Were the Indians primarily named Rogues or its French equivalent, it is remarkable, 
to say the least, that the river should receive next their peculiar designation, and then 
its own name be conferred on the Indians, with the addition of the word river or its 
French equivalent. This is a very significant and interesting etymological conundrum 
indeed, and only to be settled provisionally. There is yet another consideration, that 
it is unlikely that the French trappers, men of vast experience among savages, whose 
traditions were derived from two centuries of life with or warring against innumerable 
tribes, should reserve an opprobrious designation for a tribe of Indians in Southern 
Oregon. Rather would they have given it to the fierce Iroquois, the untamable Sioux 
or the cruel Blackfeet, enemies powerful and remorseless. In the absence of direct 
testimony, it appears by far the most likely that the river was originally named Rouge 
by the trappers, which, by the easiest perversion imaginable, was changed by English- 
speaking men into Rogue, which it has since remained. 

By legislative enactment dated in the winter of 1853-4, Rogue river was to have 
been known as Gold river, a somewhat more euphonious and possibly more appropriate 
designation than the usual one; but this name never achieved currency outside of the 
legislative chambers. 

Of the minor streams of Jackson county, there are the Big Butte, Little Butte, 
Antelope, and Dry creeks, with their lesser tributaries, rising in the eastern part of 
the county and flowing westward into the Rogue above the Table Rocks. Bear 
creek, otherwise called Mary's river and Stewart creek (the latter the name of a gal- 
lant military officer who was killed near its banks), rises near the southern boundary 
and flowing northwest empties into the main river near Table Rock. The Applegate, 
indifferently called river or creek, also rises near the California line. Its direction is 
northwest ; it is formed by the junction of the Big and Little Applegate ; it receives 



314 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

the waters of Sterling, Williams, Forest, and other creeks, and passing into Josephine 
county it enters the Rogue in township 36 south, range 6 west. This stream drains a 
very considerable region, mostly covered with rugged mountain ranges, deep canyons 
and wooded steeps, in all perhaps not less than 1,000 square miles. East of the sources 
of the Applegate and Bear creek some small streams, notably Jenny creek, with its 
tributaries Beaver and Keene creeks (the latter deriving its name from Granville 
Keene, killed thereon by Indians on or about September 3, 1855), flow south into 
Klamath river. On the north side of Rogue river rise Button, Trail, Sam's, Sardine, 
Evans', and other lesser creeks, which drain small valleys, and flowing southward 
empty in the main river. Louse creek, Grave or Leland creek, Jump-off-Joe and 
Wolf creeks rise in the northwestern part of the county, flow west into [Josephine 
county and ultimately find their way into the Rogue. Into the south side of that 
river run the creeks known as T'Vault's or Kane's, and Foot's. These take their rise 
in the range separating the Applegate from Rogue river, and are but small streams, 
although somewhat important from the mining which has been carried on in their 
sands. Jackson creek flows a course nearly parallel with Bear creek, taking its rise 
in the hills south of Jacksonville, and from its association is an immensely important 
stream, though very insignificant in volume. 

Each of these streams drains a valley whose extent is generally proportioned to 
their own magnitude. The largest of these valleys has long been known as Rogue river 
valley — a name which has become as a household word throughout the countries where 
English is spoken. As usually applied the term designates the whole basin of the 
Rogue river, a region of not less than 4,000 square miles in area. In Southern Oregon 
and particularly in Jackson county, the expression is confined to the single valley 
extending from Table Rock to and above Ashland, and is a misnomer, inasmuch as 
the Rogue river passes through or by only the lower end of the tract. Bear creek 
valley, as bearing the name of the stream which passes through the middle of its 
whole length, is the more appropriate designation in every respect. The length of 
the valley proper is about forty miles, its maximum breadth — being the distance between 
the summits of the enclosing ranges — is about fifteen miles, and its average width is 
about eight miles. Thus it is equal in area to 300 square miles, a large part of which is 
level and of the very finest quality of soil. The tillable land of Bear creek valley is 
probably near one-half of all in the county. Here also live the larger portion of 
the population, who are also the most prosperous and wealthy of the county. Bear 
creek valley thus becomes the center of business and enterprise, and contains as a 
natural consequence nearly all the institutions of religious worship and instruction. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

AGRICULTURAL AND CLIMATIC RESOURCES. 

Character of the Soil— The Conditions of Fertility— Adaptation to Wheat— A Rich Agricultural Region— Stock- 
raising — Vegetables — Fruit-growing- — Enthusiastic Prophecies — Grapes and Wine — An Extract — Magnificent 
and Unequalled Climate — Rainfall — Temperature— Freedom from Disease — Retrospection. 

The material resources of Jackson county, which constitute a subject of great 
importance and interest, naturally fall into agricultural, mineral and climatic divisions. 
Concerning the former some general facts will serve to enlighten the reader, who, for 
particular instances should consult another portion of this account. 

The general character of the soil of Jackson county is a dark alluvium derived 
from the slow and gradual disintegration of the sandstone and other rocks, their 
removal to lower levels, and admixture with vegetable mold, the product of successive 
growth and decay of grasses, shrubs and trees. Upon high elevations, particularly the 
slopes of hills and mountains, the soil while partaking of the same general character, 
contains larger particles of rock, so much so as to produce a gravelly or pebbly soil. 
Some extensive level tracts are composed of heavy alluvial deposits of fine loam resting 
upon a sub-soil of clay. Usually the "bed-rock" is close beneath the soil and is 
mainly the sandstone country rock, or more often the barren detritus left by freshets. 
The foothills and mountain slopes are frecuiently covered with a warm, rich, red loam, 
verging into a grayish soil of less fertility. The loam, vegetable mold, alluvial 
deposits and decomposed, or rather disintegrated sandstone each possess many of the 
elements of fertility and their mixture forms, as is well known, the richest soils known 
to agriculturists. From a chemical point of view nothing could be better adapted to 
the growth and nourishment of crops than such soils. The various compounds which 
go to make up the mineral portion of plants, that is the ash, are present in ample cpian- 
tity. The potassium salts, the soluble silica, the phosphates and other indispensible 
constituents are at hand to be dissolved in nature's alembic, carried by the sap of the 
growing plant through the minute canals which pervade it and be incorporated with 
and form a j)art of its system. Given such a soil, with a sub-soil sufficiently pervious 
to water, and an unfailing supply of moisture just beneath it, and all the conditions of 
successful agriculture are at hand. A large part of the soils of Bear creek and other 
sections are of this sort; but in many localities considerable tracts of shallow soil rest 
upon an impervious foundation of sandstone, or upon coarse gravel which in turn 
reposes upon the sandstone country rock, and in such cases failures of crops are not 
infrequent. 

Under the most favorable conditions the fertility of the soil seems absolutely 
inexhaustible. Since farming began in the Rogue river valley, a matter of thirty odd 
years ago, certain lauds have yielded crops for each successive year, and still remain 



316 SOUTHERN OREGON 

unimpaired in productive power. This applies to the rich tracts of Bear creek valley, 
but is also true in a less degree of other localities, and to some extent of the hill lands, 
whose value is being yearly demonstrated. The rich loam, or porous, gravelly soils of 
the rolling hills have produced crops of uncommon abundance in seasons when the 
level lands of the valleys have only borne a partial crop. For the culture of grain 
crops of every kind the soil of the region has proved its adaptability by the experience 
of a third of a century. Wheat has always been a favorite crop. Barley, rye and oats 
reward well the thrifty farmer. Twenty-five bushels per acre of either of these grains 
would in past years have been esteemed a small yield, taking the country at large. Com- 
pared with the area devoted to other crops wheat culture has always been foremost in 
importance of all agricultural branches, so much so that we may say that a history of 
agriculture in the valley is simply a history of wheat raising. At a time when the 
acreage of tilled lands was small, and transportation so costly as to debar the importa- 
tion of breadstuffs from the Willamette valley and the outer world generally, and 
when several thousand miners in Jackson, Josephine and Siskiyou counties depended 
for their supply of flour almost exclusively upon the fields of Bear creek valley, wheat 
raising achieved a standing as a very lucrative occupation, and what is more, an easy 
one. Flour at ten cents per pound corresponds nearly to a price of four dollars per 
bushel for wheat, which was frequently raised in quantities of fifty or sixty bushels 
per acre — figures that point to the growth of fortunes in small periods of time. The 
exportation of produce in bulk was impracticable, for even good wagon roads were not 
yet had; hence the home market alone being a dependence. Such products as found a 
ready sale at remunerative rates were cultivated. These were wheat, vegetables and 
live stock. The former industry was the earliest developed, as it has since continued 
the foremost, The farmers of Rogue river valley within fifteen years of the discovery 
of gold had become the wealthiest of their class on the Pacific coast, and had placed 
agriculture on a more advanced footing than it had attained elsewhere in Oregon. The 
breeding and rearing of flocks and herds became also an industry of no small impor- 
tance. It needed no skilled prescience to determine that the country was pre-emi- 
nently adapted to grazing, as on the hills and mountain slopes flourished uncounted 
acres of the richest and most succulent grasses upon which in summer, horses, cattle 
and sheep waxed obese and contented. And in time of frost, and snow, and rain, the 
animals were able to sustain life at least by the heat-giving powers of their accumulated 
fat, with some aid from dried grass, ferns and mosses. Consequently arose the nomadic 
class of stock-growers or cattle-raisers, so-called, who, however, do not raise cattle 
or even maintain herds, but are maintained by them, their principal and seemingly 
only necessary occupation being to count their property. Stock-raising has many 
votaries, but as conducted in many new countries bears no relation to the industrious 
and careful methods of real agriculture. 

An enthusiastic visitor to this valley said : " This fertile land will produce in 
abundance anything that will grow in the temperate zone." Corn thrives better than 
elsewhere in Oregon; vegetables of every variety grow in profusion, among them 
sweet potatoes, usually reckoned a semi-tropical production. Cabbages, usually a com- 
mon-place product, inspire positive enthusiasm when seen in Southern Oregouian 
luxuriance. The onion, of mildest flavor and completely devoid of its usual tear-com- 



\ " •■■•' i a 




& 



JACKSON COl'NTY. 



317 



pelling attributes, is produced at the rate sometimes of 700 bushels per acre. The pen, 
the bean (Boston's beloved aliment), the cauliflower, the radish, the potato, yield mar- 
velously, ami beyond belief of the farmers of the effete east whose highest hopes are 
centered upon the manure pile, and who are strangers to the facile ways of the agri- 
culturist of the Pacific slope. Small fruits and berries, wherever tried, have succeeded 
beyond expectation ; but it is from the culture of orchard and vineyard products that 
the people of this region expect the most. Since the decrease of mining and the con- 
sequent partial destruction of the home market, and more especially since the coming 
of the railroad, it has seemed that the heretofore isolated country will have to adapt 
itself to the changed circumstances in which it finds itself. To contemplate the con- 
tinued raising of wheat in direct competition with the boundless plains of California 
and the Willamette valley, is to foresee a loss of time and opportunities. The lands of 
the Roiiiie river basin are too contracted in area to admit of it ; and besides thev are 
more valuable for other purposes. Fruit raising, especially of the apple, pear and 
stone fruits, will prove at once a more laborious pursuit and a better paying one. For 
twenty years men have been prophesying an era when the fruits of this valley will be 
regarded universally as the best in the world and sought for at the highest prices. 
Perhaps this is so; probably there is not in the world a locality where certain fruits 
attain such excellence in flavor, size and keeping qualities. Men of the widest experi- 
ence concede to the apples grown here the highest merits in all desirable qualities- 
The grape they have also pronounced unequaled. Enthusiastic wine-drinkers and 
virtuosos, have foreseen a time when all the hill sides would be covered with vineyards, 
and when an overflowing population, appeased of their own beverage, should be enjoy- 
ing life in the shade of the vines. Soberly speaking, they have predicted that the 
laurels of France, Germany, and every foreign wine-producing country, as well as 
California, would be wrested from them and worn by the lovely vale of the Rogue 
river, which will then be the most abundant producer of the best of wines. A many- 
sided subject this, and not to be settled by the assertions of individuals, but by experi- 
ence alone. Thus far experiments haVe been successfully conducted in the planting 
and care of vines and the making of wine. Some sixty or seventy acres of vines have 
been set out, mainly near Jacksonville, where are located the two largest vineyards, 
those of R. Morat and J. N. T. Miller, each of whom devote several acres to that cul- 
ture. Their wine production, amounting to several thousand gallons annually, is 
consumed in the home market, as the cost of transportation has heretofore precluded 
its export to the outer world, whereby it would have met a decisive test by comparison 
with the wines of other localities. The vineyardist of the present produces a very fair 
article of wine, but its manufacturers labor under the disadvantages of a want of skill 
and too minute quantities, to be very strikingly successful. There is certainly no lack 
of space for the planting of vineyards, as the hill lands have long been conceded to be 
best adapted for grapes, and in this respect California has many advantages also. The 
varieties of grapes thus far experimented upon in Jackson county are very small, and 
only one, the Mission, is much known. Doubtless this species is the best adapted to 
the locality and attendant circumstances, being very hardy and requiring little care 
and attention. Its wine, however, is distinctly inferior to that of nearly every other 
variety. The introduction of superior varieties and the systematic and intelligent 



318 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

pursuit of viniculture as a profession may place the county in the front rank of wine- 
producing localities. Again, there is thus far an entire absence of the j)hylloxera, that 
pest which is devastating the vineyards of California and most wine-making countries, 
and which threatens to utterly destroy the vines of many extensive regions heretofore 
renowned for the quantity and quality of their production. This latter is an advan- 
tage of no small consequence, but most likely the vineyards of this region will in time 
experience the terrible insect's ravages. 

A newspaper extract, printed since the capacity of the Rogue river valley for 
fruit growing became known, is to this effect: "In all countries valley land is less valu- 
able than hill sides for fruit ; the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada are yearly becoming 
more valuable for fruit raising, and the hilly regions of Unipqua and Rogue rivers 
invite the exertions of fruit growers in unlimited numbers. There is room enough for 
thousands of plantations and orchards. The productiveness of the soil is extreme, it costs 
considerable to prepare the land, bat a single crop under favorable circumstances as to 
transportation would more than repay all previous trouble and expense. The citrus 
family may not thrive successfully on the Rogue river, but we can dispense with 
oranges, lemons and also with the tenderest grapes and figs, while we raise hardy grapes, 
peaches, apricots, apples, pears, plums, prunes, cherries and berries in profusion. Nine 
years out of ten the peaches are abundant and choice, and with railway communication 
provided, would rule the markets of the Willamette and Puget sound, where they can- 
not raise peaches. There is practically no limit to the amount of fruit that can be 
grown in Jackson county." 

The following excellent and well-considered article is taken from a local publica- 
tion. It commends itself by the judgment it evinces, and contains hints which the 
fruit-grower and consumer have doubtless found of value. " It is because of its superior 
fruit that we refer to Rogue river valley as the Italy of Oregon. It is a well known 
fact that the finest flavored grapes of California are produced on the sunny slopes of the 
foot-hills, and the conditions there found exist in the foot-hill region of Jackson county. 
The vines produce large clusters, and the grapes have a most excellent flavor, being- 
very juicy and making a superior quality of wine. The conditions of soil and climate 
are also very favorable to peaches, the fruit being superior in flavor, though a trifle 
smaller in size, to the California product, The slight touch of frost in winter, though 
too mild to injure the vines or trees, gives a flavor to the fruit that is lacking in that of 
the warmer regions of California. The bottom lands are especially adapted to fruit 
culture, and it is that class of soil that has been utilized the most by fruit growers. In 
addition to grapes and peaches, apricots, pears, plums, apples, cherries and the usual 
fruits produce luxuriantly, and are of excellent quality, especially the apples, which 
have no superior anywhere. Hitherto the foot-hills have been used chiefly as a grazing 
ground for sheep, but that the flocks will seek 'pastures new' and the land be planted 
extensively in vineyards and orchards is certain. On the whole the fruit interest of 
Rogue river valley consists more in the possibilities of the future than in what has 
already been accomplished. With no market beyond the limits of Southern Oregon, 
farmers had formerly no encouragement to plant extensive orchards or large vineyards, 
but enough has been done to show the wonderful adaptability of the soil and climate to 
the production of fruit. The whole northwest offers a market at good prices for fruit 



JACKSON COUNTY. 319 

of all kinds, while certain varieties are largely sought after in the east. There is no 
business that can be embarked in with greater promise of a golden reward than that of 
fruit culture. It must, however, like everything else, be managed properly to be a great 
success. Orchards and vineyards must be planted and taken care of in a systematic 
manner and the business from first to last conducted as experience in other places has 
shown to be hest. Especially must the fruit be put up in an attractive and marketable 
shape, well assorted, conveniently packed for handling by the dealer and attractive to 
the eye. Experience in California and elsewhere shows that the most successful fruit 
raisers are those whose product reaches the market in the hest condition and presents 
the most inviting appearance. Already we hear of a number of experienced orchardists 
who intend to locate in Southern Oregon immediately. It is a great pity that the 
farmers of that region have not prepared themselves for the market now being opened, 
by planting extensive orchards, but it is by no means too late, though the golden 
harvest must be delayed. The men who set out at once large orchards and vineyards 
and get them into bearing condition, will be the first to reap their reward. The market 
is large, growing and permanent." 

In its climate Jackson county is truly blessed. It possesses the combined advan- 
tages of many other sections with almost no drawback. In another portion of this 
volume the annual rainfall with statistics of temperature are set forth, from which 
much may be learned as to its meteorology. The average annual rainfall in the Bear 
creek valley is about twenty-five inches — a quantity almost exactly proportioned to 
the needs of agriculture. This total is about half that experienced in the Willamette 
valley, but is considerably more than that of Eastern Oregon. It is sufficient for 
every known crop and falls at such times as to perfectly answer the needs of tillage in 
every locality. The wisest human foresight could not apportion the rainfall more 
satisfactorily, for on the one hand all damage and loss by freshets is nearly obviated, 
and on the other the crops and grasses mature under its influence. Extremely heavy 
rains, as experienced in other localities are unknown here, and injurious floods recur 
so seldom and in so insignificant measure as to be of little consequence and not to be 
considered. The extreme limits of annual rainfall are not over twenty inches, com- 
paring favorably with localities in California where the variation is not less than forty, 
and in the northwestern part of Oregon where it is even more. Hence it follows that 
a certain amount of rain may be calculated upon, which is the principal element favor- 
ing sure crops. Again, this rainfall occurs at favorable times of the year, when its 
influence is for the good of agriculture. The somewhat infrequent summer showers 
play their part in laying the dust, purifying the air and renewing the verdure, while 
the greater part of rain falls in the colder months, preparing the land for the opera- 
tions of plowing and sowing. The temperature is equally favorable. The extreme 
height of the thermometer rarely exceeds ninety-five degrees, and as rarely sinks in 
winter below twenty. The range cannot be over seventy degrees in an ordinary 
season, while its yearly average is about fifty and one-half degrees. Thus the climate 
of Jackson county closely resembles that of California, if we make allowance for the 
higher latitude and the consequent depression of the temperature. That jDortion of the 
Golden State lying to the south of this region, however, is afflicted very frequently by 
too excessive rains, which act injuriously upon many occupations; and in this respect 



320 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Jackson county is much more highly favored. Finally, it is a fact that the Rogue 
river valley possesses the most favorable climate for agriculture that is known to the 
Pacific coast. This fact is easily substantiated by referring to the meteorological tables 
published herewith. The regularity of the rainfall and its comparative lightness, 
added to the fact of its distribution through the most advantageous part of the year are 
necessarily owing to the configuration of the various ranges of mountains which lie 
along the coast and modify the vapor-laden winds. Besides the strictly useful effects 
of the climate, it has the additional property of being extremely healthful and invigor- 
ating. Under such skies and blown upon by such breezes, existence itself is luxurious 
contentment. Pure air, abundance of good water — for no country is better supplied 
with pure and cool streams — scenery remarkable and hardly surpassed, and finally a 
profusion of the choicest productions of the temperate zone, make up all that reason- 
able mortals could desire for their chosen abiding place. To name all the features 
wherein the Rogue river country is signally blessed would require pages. We might 
recall the fact that no serious earthquakes have occurred here since man's advent; no 
pestilences dangerous to life have been known; even the common endemic diseases are 
scarce; no violent hurricanes, such as have devastated portions of the west, have been 
noticed, nor ever can be, because of the surrounding mountains; there have been no 
droughts injurious to crops; no "pluvial dispensations" of long continuance, by which 
floods are produced, lives endangered and property destroyed, and no cold waves of 
sufficient intensity to inflict damage. But on the other hand there is an amount of 
rich land sufficient for the support of a very numerous population; a climate nourish- 
ing and invigorating to plants, man and animals alike: a rainfall exactly sufficient to 
meet reasonable wants, sure and abundant enough to fairly co-act with the fertility of 
the soil, bringing forth in abundance its choicest productions; there is scenery so grand 
and so varied as to fill with wonder the stranger's mind and to never weary the eye of 
the oldest pioneer; there is pasturage sufficient for myriads of grazing animals; there 
is water power enough to propel the machinery of hundreds of manufactories; there 
are quartz veins and gravel deposits bearing gold which for centuries may be worked 
with good results; and there is railroad communication with the outside world by 
which the numberless rich products of the valley may be transported quickly and 
cheaply to market. Such" are a portion only of the advantages of the Rogue river 
country, in many of which it shares equally with other parts of Southern Oregon. 
For the immigrant who desires a home with the comforts and in due time the 
elegancies of life, no other part of America offers equal inducements. 




WaIung-uth-portiaho-ok. 

Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



MINERAL RESOURCES OF JACKSON COUNTY. 

Minerals found in the County — Mineral Springs— Limestone— Iron—Coal— Mercury— Gravel mining — Progress of 
the art— The pan— Rocker— Tom— Sluice — Hydraulic mining— How Conducted— The lack of Water — Yield 
of the mines — Product decreasing — Mining locations. 

The mineral resources of Jackson county comprise deposits of gold, silver, copper, 
iron, lead, salt, coal and limestone, besides granite, sandstone and other rocks suitable 
for building purposes. There are mineral springs of various descriptions, some hot and 
some of the sort known as sulphur springs ; there are soda springs in the Siskiyou 
mountains, and a variety of less known aqueous effusions, many of them believed to be 
valuable for medicinal purposes. Nickel, tin and zinc are said to exist in Jackson 
county. Thus far the extraction of gold from auriferous deposits in gravel has been 
by far the most important mining interest, the reduction of quartz containing gold 
standing second in importance. The industries depending upon the working of copper, 
iron and coal deposits have not as yet attained a commencement, and their relative 
importance cannot now be told. Limestone is found in several localities, notably on 
Jackson creek, where it is extracted and calcined in kilns, producing a good article of 
lime for mason work. At other places it abounds, often attaining the form of marble, 
which is well known to be a form of limestone, and which is sometimes of sufficient 
purity for statuary uses. This, as well as the iron, coal and copper deposits, may 
become of great value in the future. 

Cinnabar, the sulphide of mercury, the ore whence quicksilver is derived, has for 
many years been known to exist in Jackson county, and in several localities is found 
in paying quantities. On Evans' creek, in the western part of the county, claims have 
been taken, deposits examined and the metal produced ; but owing to the fall in the 
price of that commodity, and to other causes, the dawning industry which was once of 
great promise, was suffered to sink into temporary obscurity. At present no quick- 
silver is produced in this county, although there is thought to be paying ore sufficient 
to supply a very large part of the world's consumption for years. 

The history of gravel mining in Jackson county is a subject of intense interest, 
intermingled as it is with so much of human enterprise and suffering. In every respect 
it resembles and is identical with the history of the mining counties of California, with 
which state Jackson county has far closer affiliations than with the exclusively agricul- 
tural portion of Oregon. Indeed, it is a rather striking and in some sense regrettable 
fact that it is not a part of the former state. Settled by the same class of enterprising, 
fearless and progressive miners it became the abode of a population who, except for 
being surrounded with great agricultural advantages, were circumstanced precisely as 
those of California. The surface mining industry grew up under the same conditions, 

42 



322 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

attained its maximum at the same time and has declined in the same proportion. 
Hydraulic mining has suffered the same mutations which beset it in the golden state, 
excepting as to the famous debris question, but unlike the present condition of the 
industry in California, it seems that the deep placers of Jackson and Josephine counties 
are so extensive that they may remain unexhausted for centuries. 

Three methods of mining have been mainly followed in the extraction of gold ; 
whereof two pertain to gravel mining, and the other is quartz mining, so-called. One 
of the former is called surface placer mining, the other is styled hydraulic mining. 
The former process — the washing of gravel from shallow beds — is the forerunner of 
the hydraulic process, and although comparatively old, yet as practiced for the last 
twenty-five years is an enormous improvement on foreign and antiquated modes of 
mining. When in 1848 the sands of California were first found to contain gold, the 
only known means of separating it from the dirt was by washing with water in a 
batea, a wooden bowl in use by Mexican miners for generations. Ordinary culinary 
vessels were substituted for lack of these, and by experiment the common milk pan 
was found to be by its size and shape well calculated to effect the separation of the con- 
tained earth and gold. Accordingly these were first used exclusively, the iron seam- 
less " gold pan" now so universally known, being an improvement in manufacture. 
Thousands, and probably millions of dollars was thus laboriously and painfully washed 
out before the miners advanced to the discovery and use of the rocker or cradle. This 
article, also familiar to all residents in mining localities, is a long step in advance of 
the pan or batea, as by its use tw T o men are enabled to do the work of six or eight 
provided only with the latter instruments. For awhile this apparatus served the pur- 
pose for which it was designed, but the increasing scarcity of very rich diggings, added 
to the large amount of gravel requisite to be washed to procure what were considered 
fair results, led to the introduction of the " torn," a contrivance whereby a steady stream 
of water was led upon the gravel, washing it and setting free the gold, whose superior 
gravity carried it to the bottom, whereby it became entangled in cross " riffles" and so 
saved, while the lighter refuse was carried away by the force of the stream. The pan, 
the rocker, and the torn, alike were used wherever water could be procured, the dirt 
being usually carried to the water, for no extended ditches had yet been prepared to 
bring the water to the dirt. Next in point of time was the grand discovery of the 
sluice, which grew by evolution from the pan, the rocker and the torn, and was their 
natural successor. Gravel deposits of greater extent had become known, whose mass 
was beyond the power of man to move in any ordinary term of life, and for whose 
working the ordinary implements of mining were entirely inadequate. Systematic 
mining had made now its greatest step ; the water was brought to the gravel and its 
laborious handling was confined to shoveling into the sluice wherein a strong stream 
ran swiftly, carrying it away, separating its particles and dropping its contained gold 
into " riffles" as in the torn. With this improvement the amount of dirt which could 
be washed daily depended upon the strength and energy of those who wielded the 
pick and shovel. Sluices, at first of but slight length, afterwards were adopted in a 
continuous line hundreds of yards in length, whereby a larger percentage of gold was 
saved. The line usually led directly across the claim ; and the " bronzed and hardy 
gold-seekers," partners in the profits, stood upon either side of the boxes and shoveled 



JACKSON COUNTY. 323 

the earth into them. This improvement led to the formation of companies" of miners, 
whereby advantages accrued in securing " water rights" and " dumping|grounds" and 
sufficient quantities of " pay dirt," which would usually have been impossible to solitary 
workers. Ground-sluicing and booming, related inventions, still of practical use, took 
their rise co-incident with the sluice. Finally we come to the last great step in gravel 
mining — the invention of the hydraulic process. With the continued use of the sluice 
the greater part of the valuable shallow deposits were worked and pay dirt became 
scarcer year by year, while in certain localities in California and Oregon the existence 
of enormous beds of auriferous gravel, comparatively poor in gold, had been discov- 
ered, but could not be worked by any known means owing to the high price of labor. 
In some instances these deposits were of tolerable richness, but were overlaid by a 
great depth of worthless earth, frequently one hundred or more feet in depth. In such 
cases a considerable quantity of gold-bearing dirt was sometimes extracted by " drift- 
ing," that is, by tunneling in to the deposit and removing it by hand, as in quartz 
mining. This, too, is an expensive process, and the exigencies of the situation led to 
the invention of the " giant" and the use of a powerful jet of water thrown against a 
bank of earth, whereby it is washed into the sluices without the intervention of manual 
labor except in directing the working stream. The earliest records of hydraulic 
washing show that a miner in Calaveras county, California, first applied the principle, 
using an extemporized canvas hose leading from a barrel so placed as to receive the 
water of a spring. Its value was soon perceived and " hydraulics" came slowly into 
use, but not of course in the manner now in practice. Larger amounts of w T ater and 
higher " heads" have been successively introduced until now, in certain instances, sev- 
eral hundred cubic feet of water per minute is forced through a single nozzle, with the 
pressure due to 400 feet of fall. Such a stream moves boulders of immense size, hurls 
earth and cobbles to a height of many feet, and erodes great hills and mountain sides 
during a season's work. All the appurtenances of hydraulic mining have advanced 
in the same degree. There are companies lately operating in California who had pre- 
pared ditches of forty miles or more in length, carrying in an extreme case 10,000 
miner's inches of water (a miner's inch is equal to one and a half cubic feet per min- 
ute), which is led to the claims under pressure of from 250 to 400 feet. In Southern 
Oregon the process was early introduced ; its working has nearly always been attended 
with profit ; and there remains at this day a very large amount of earth fit to be 
worked and which will be "piped" away when water can be brought upon it. The 
minimum for which auriferous dirt can be worked with profit by the hydraulic pro- 
cess, where all the surroundings are advantageous, is five cents per cubic yard ; and 
most workings must contain four times that in order to pay. To digress somewhat, let 
it be observed that a cubic yard is about 175 or 200 panfuls ; if, then, it required 
twenty-five cents worth of gold to make a panful worth working in the " flush times," 
it seems that the process of washing is now performed at nearly one thousand times 
less cost than formerly. Undoubtedly there are very great and extensive deposits of 
auriferous gravel in Jackson and Josephine counties which contain much more than 
twenty cents per cubic yard ; and there is a great additional advantage in that the 
debris resulting from their working can never be seriously detrimental, as any injury 



324 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

to the navigation of the Illinois and Rogue rivers and Applegate creek need not be 
a subject of solicitude. 

As a great and unfailing amount of water is necessary for the successful prosecu- 
tion of hydraulic mining, and as heretofore the greater part of the hydraulic miners of 
Southern Oregon have only been able to work their claims for a few months each 
year, depending upon the rains for their supply, it has been deemed of great moment 
that water be procured from a more reliable source than the creeks and springs hereto- 
fore depended on. With this view it has been suggested to tap the Klamath river 
above Cottonwood creek, and bring its waters by a long, wide and deep ditch to the 
placers in Applegate and other localities. Such a ditch would be an immensely costly 
undertaking, no doubt, as its length would probably reach seventy miles; but that it 
would be a pecuniary success is the opinion of many miners. Another scheme is for 
the introduction of water from the falls of Rogue river, whereby a ditch fifty miles 
long would be required, and the water used in various localities where deep placers 
exist, as Foot's creek, etc. The Sentinel in 1859 suggested the use of artesian wells as 
a source of water; but this suggestion, although backed by cogent arguments, showing 
how it was likely from the shape of the Rogue river basin that water exists in exten- 
sive gravel strata beneath the surface and under immense pressure, was not acted upon, 
and, indeed, has elsewhere proved unfeasible. 

The area of gold mines in Southern Oregon is bounded on the east by a line 
which begins on the North Umpqua river where the Willamette meridian crosses that 
stream, continues south across the South Umpqua, then bending west passes down the 
right bank of Rogue river to the mouth of Bear creek, jn'oceeds up that creek to the 
vicinity of Barron's, and so passes into California. Eastward of the line no gold, save, 
perhaps, occasional traces has ever been found. It will be noticed that the boundary 
line bends westward in the Rogue river basin. All that portion of Jackson county 
lying west of that line is considered as the mining district, and includes about one- 
third of the county's whole area. Within the district are the gravel mining localities 
known and celebrated under the names of Jackson creek, Sterling creek, Applegate, 
Forest creek (otherwise known as Jackass), Foot's creek, Kane's creek, Evans' creek, 
Pleasant creek, Sardine creek, Ward's creek, Poorman's creek, Grave creek (Leland 
creek), Jump-off- Joe creek, Coyote creek, Louse creek, Wagner creek, Phoenix, etc., as 
well as the quartz claims of Gold hill, Jackson creek, Steamboat, and many others. 
Here was mined a vast amount of treasure which played the foremost part in building 
up and developing the resources of this country. Many millions of wealth were here 
taken out, and the history of the industrious miners who did the work forms, here as 
elsewhere, the most interesting of all the records of the past. Nor is the mining 
industry by any means at an end. The rich and shallow placers were doubtless pretty 
nearly exhausted years ago, and only a few miners, mostly relics of the past, continue 
to work over and again the sands which have yielded so much. But there still exist 
deep deposits of unworked and as yet unworkable grounds, which, by the scarcity of 
water, have never been utilized, and these in the future will doubtless be found to pay. 
Some of these would give, say the experienced, an immense return if properly Avorked 
by hydraulic process. The capitalist or miner who desires to make trial of these 
deposits is confronted by the problem of how water is to be procured, and retires satis- 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



3>r> 



tied that no ordinary outlay will provide a sufficient supply. Still, there will doubtless 
be found some man or an association of men who will be willing to make an invest- 
ment oi' sufficient capital to construct an immense ditch, bringing water from a great 
distance to the beds, and then by means of hydraulic apparatus washing down the 
great banks and separating the gold. 

Statisticians have frequently attempted to ascertain the yield of the mines of Jack- 
sou county during all the years subsequent to its settlement ; but a distant approxima- 
tion is only to be achieved. The principal association concerned in handling the 
product has been the express company of Wells, Fargo & Co., whose agent at Jackson- 
ville testifies to having forwarded ten million dollars worth of gold since 1856. A 
small portion only of this may have come from Josephine county. It is the agent's 
opinion that an equal amount was extracted during the same time which found other 
means of egress from the locality. By calculations based upon these figures we are apt 
to arrive at the opinion that thirty millions represents the quantity mined between the 
years 1851 and 1884, in Jackson county alone. This is regarded as a reasonable esti- 
mate, but the true amount may be millions greater or less. Of this amount the quartz 
mines have furnished a sum somewhat in excess of half a million dollars. 

While the average annual yield may have been quite a million a year, the out-put 
of precious metal has in general decreased each year from 1856 until the present. In 
the years preceding 1860 it is thought to have averaged over one and a quarter mil- 
lions, whereas in the year named it was probably not above $1,150,000. By 1870 it 
had decreased to two-thirds of that amount, and in succeeding years, as the placers 
become extinct and mining population diminished, very little was done in shal- 
low diggings, the hydraulics taking the place of picks and shovels, and the yearly 
product has now sunk to less than $250,000. The yield depends however on the rela- 
tive rainfall of the season, for circumstanced as the most of the miners are they must 
look to the evanescent clouds of the heavens for the means wherewith to make their 
mines produce. 

The extent of the mining industry in Jackson county is shown by the fact that 
5438 mining locations were made from October 8, 1856, to June 30, 1880. Of these 
sixteen were copper, one tin, 124 cinnabar, and the rest gold and silver. There were 
1221 conveyances of mining claims and 133 transfers of water ditches and rights during 
the same time. The claims were located as follows : In Big Applegate District, 466 ; 
in Little Applegate, 39; Uniontown, 2; Sterling, 151; Jackass, 491; Jackson- 
ville, 1463; Forty-nine, 234; Willow Springs, 785; Gold Hill, 361; Gall's creek, 95 ; 
Foot's creek, 288; Evans' creek, 115; Sardine creek, 132; Louse creek, 25; Dry Diggings; 
33; Jump-off-Joe, 114; Grave creek, 224; Coyote creek, 75; Poorman's creek, 300; 
Steamboat, 45. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

QUARTZ MINING IN JACKSON COUNTY. 

Tw3 Years of Prospecting-— Distinction Between Milling and Pocket Veins— Pocket Mining— An Easy Road 
to Riches— The First Quartz Mine— The Gold Hill Mine— Enormous Yield— The First Quartz Mill— The 
Blackwell Lead — The Jewitt Mine — Mines on Jackson Creek — Two Quartz Mills — The Fowler Mine — 
Its History — A Silver Excitement. 

The history of quartz mining in Jackson county mostly centers about the dis- 
covery of the rich leads at Gold hill and Steamboat, and is mainly embraced in the 
two years of 1860 and 1861, in the first of which the greatest results were attained 
and the greatest amount of work done. Thus quartz mining will be seen to occupy 
but a single short period in the county's history, and resembles a spasmodic outburst 
which suddenly began and as suddenly ceased without very beneficial immediate 
results to the community, but giving great hopes for a future time when, the subject 
of mining and milling being better understood, much greater things may be expected. 
The ledges of gold-bearing quartz have not proved particularly numerous, but perhaps 
as large a proportion of them have been found to contain workable rock as in any 
other part of the country. Indeed, it would be difficult to point out any locality 
whatever in which the net returns have been greater for the amount invested and the 
work done. The experience of miners has shown that the veins of Jackson county 
are "spotted" — that is, their content of gold is not uniformly distributed throughout 
the mass of quartz, but is collected within small spaces of abnormally rich rock 
technically called "pockets." In other mining countries the same thing occurs; and 
practical quartz miners are in the habit of distinguishing such veins by the name of 
"pocket leads," in contradistinction to those veins where gold is uniformly dissemi- 
nated throughout, which are called "milling leads," as requiring reduction by mill 
process, whereas pocket veins are worked by more simple means. The working of 
pocket veins has become an industry of no small importance in the "slate belt" of 
California, and it is highly possible that a few hints from the experience of the busy 
workers there might assist in developing the hidden wealth of Jackson county. 
Twenty years, during which "hunting pockets" has become an exclusive pursuit 
carried on without reference to ordinary mining, has brought the occupation to the 
dignity of an art and a profession. The initiated talk abstrusely of "leads," "dikes," 
"crossings," "elbows," "bends," "blue slate" and the other technicalities of their pur- 
suit, and have formulated the principles supposed to determine the location of pockets 
with such approximation as to enable the seeker in many cases to discover the hidden 
treasure. Pocket mining is the most absorbing and interesting pursuit in the world; 
and whoever becomes tinctured with it will remain devoted to it for his lifetime. 
There are many instances known of men laboring assiduously at it for ten, twelve and 



JACKSON COUNTY. 327 

more years, without once striking a color. Its rewards are ill-proportioned, but, per- 
haps, as certain as those of any branch of gold mining. The greatest pockets known 
to have been found yielded a quarter of a million of dollars, the two eminent examples 
which occurred in Jackson county being hardly surpassed. The pursuit possesses the 
distinguishing and obvious advantage that it can be carried on without capital, and by 
the exertions of a single individual or two partners. It is customarily followed by 
two in preference to any other number, especially in case of shaft workings, wherein 
one man loads the bucket with rock while the other turns the windlass to raise it. 
With only the ordinary excavating tools and explosives, and with a season's supply of 
provisions, the latter perhaps advanced as a "grub stake" by some speculative trader, 
the pocket miner is enabled to pursue his calling, often with good results, sometimes 
with surpassing luck, and frequently without the slightest return. The art of pecket 
mining consists essentially in discovering what are called crossings — narrow veins of 
quartz or yellowish "dike," so-called — and tracing these to their intersectic/ with an 
ordinary quartz vein, at which point, by some mysterious dispensation of nature, a 
pocket is usually formed. Elbows are bends in the vein, at which pockets are also to 
be looked for. The intersection is arrived at by means of a shaft or a tunnel of small 
diameter, frequently only a yard or so, as the object invariably is to remove as little 
dirt as possible. Having calculated where the pocket probably lies, the miner arrives 
at that point in the most expeditious and least laborious way possible, proceeding, 
usually, along the quartz vein in order to test by means of the pan the nearness of the 
gold deposit. The "color" is usually struck at a distance of a few feet and thereafter 
all the earth taken out is jealously examined lest the pocket be passed and so lost. 
When finally it is arrived at, the gold is almost entirely contained within the space of 
a few cubic feet, and frequently of a single bucketful. A panful of the quartz, usually 
decomposed and soft, may yield a thousand dollars or more. Thus the use of a mill 
or arastra is most frequently obviated, a single hand mortar and pestle being sufficient 
for the reduction of the rock, after which it is washed in a pan. Thus unpretentiously, 
have been taken out some pockets containing not merely ounces, but hundreds of 
pounds of gold. At other times the gold is found disseminated through several tons of 
quartz, of varying richness, which requires the use of heavier machinery, either an 
arastra or stamp mill. Of the former sort was the great Divoll pocket, found in 
Sonora, California, which yielded over $200,000 in a week, and of the other class was 
the Fowler ledge at Applegate, which was more productive, but more slowly extracted. 
Thus systematically is pocket quartz mining pursued in a district of California where 
a thousand miners, an industrious and worthy class, exist by it. Without their pres- 
ence the country they inhabit would be almost deserted; for they sustain trade and the 
small number of agriculturists residing near by. There are, perhaps, sufficient oppor- 
tunities for the cultivation of their art in the quartz deposits of Jackson county to 
support an equal number of miners, all of whom would contribute to the material 
advancement of the country. Perhaps some may reply, There is no opportunity; the 
veins have all been prospected, and the gold removed. To this we answer, The quartz 
veins have in no case been worked far below the surface ; two hundred feet or there- 
abouts measures the deepest shaft; but that is a mere scratch, hardly worth consider- 



328 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

iug. Possibly the veins are equally rich at all depths, and rich pockets may exist in 
the lower portions of veins as well as near the surface. 

The quartz veins which were first met with by the miners frequently were found 
to contain pockets of decomposed rock with gold, which being accidentally found upon 
the surface, the gold was extracted by crushing in a mortar, and no further thought 
was given to the subject of quartz containing gold, though the theory of that mineral 
being the " original matrix" of the precious metal had had previous currency. The 
idea of sinking upon and "exploring the veins was not entertained until the quartz 
mania broke out in California and spread across the border into Oregon. The first 
quartz lead which was prospected in Jackson county was the Hicks lead, on the left 
fork of Jackson creek, above Farmer's Flat. Sonora Hicks and brother, the discov- 
erers, worked this vein in a necessarily imperfect way and took out some gold, getting, 
said the Sentinel, $1,000 in two hours ! Theirs was a pocket vein, and no mill or 
arastra was thought of in connection with it. Maury, Davis aud Taylor owned the 
adjoining claim, and put up an arastra upon it, the first apparatus of the kind in Ore- 
gon. The latter firm purchased the Hicks claim and worked its rock in their arastra. 
The total yield of the original claim, the first quartz lead worked in Oregon, was 
about $2,000. 

The next quartz discovery of importance was that of the famous Gold Hill 
lode, near Fort Lane. This took place in January, 1860, the discoverer being one 
Graham, known as " Emigrant," who, with George Ish, James Hayes, Thomas Chav- 
ner and John Long, as partners, located this astonishingly rich lode and began to work 
it. There was an abundance of float rock, found lying upon the surface of 
the hill, which yielded fabulously in gold, and as soon as the news of the strike 
became known the whole hill was staked out in claims, the boundaries marked some- 
times by stretching ropes, and men were busily at work picking up float and crushing 
it in mortars, whereby much money was realized. Mr. Henry Klippel, the father of 
quartz mining in Southern Oregon, found a piece of mixed gold and quartz weighing 
thirteen ounces, which yielded $100 ; and others reported as good results. Excitement 
ran high. Jacksonville, previously dull, began to bloom. Men who were notoriously 
" broke" began to put on airs of wealth. Money circulated with facility and every one 
partook, in spirit, of the good fortune. A daily stage was put on the route between 
Jacksonville f and the new mines, which was crowded with sight-seers, speculators and 
prospectors. An eating house sprang up near the mine, and Morgan Davis inaugu- 
rated a trading post. Quartz stock was up ; prospecting seized as a fever upon the 
whole country ; aud fabulous discoveries were reported in every direction. As for the 
original owners of the Gold Hill lead their fortunes seemed boundless, but dissension 
broke out in their camp. James Hayes, becoming dissatisfied, sold out to Henry 
Klippel, John McLaughlin and Charles Williams, for $5,000. Graham sold also to 
Messrs. Klippel and John E. Ross, for the same sum, the use of the money costing 
those gentlemen ten per cent, per month. Two arastras were put up to reduce the 
quartz, mules being the motive power, and armed men guarded the apparatus, mine 
and quartz wagons from the envious and predacious crowd. Weekly clean-ups were 
in order and 1,000 ounces of well retorted gold was frequently divided on Saturdays. 
For some time this extraordinary out-put continued, when the desires of the owners 



.-'.-.• 














-■•'- v^V 






33 


■-. 


m 




CO 








a 




m 




zz. 




C3 




m 




o 2 




a ^ 




£ c_ 




2 a 




> =5 


: -V;- ?~ 


CO 2 


- 


C-3 33 




O > 




W 


\ -:X\ 


^-J 


^ 


in 


- - 


o 

CO 

m 


■S^ 


CD 




C 




33 




G3 






% 



■ 



JACKSON COUNTY. 329 

outran the capabilities of the slow and primitive mule-propelled arastra, and a steam 
quartz mill with all the modern improvements was resolved upon. This, the first 
quartz mill in Jackson county, was purchased in San Francisco and shipped to the 
mine by the firm of Klippel, McLaughlin & Williams, whose undertaking was to 
crush the mining company's quartz for eight dollars per ton, themselves retaining own- 
ership in the mill. The mill was shipped to Gold Hill via Scottsburg, in the spring of 
1860, and great difficulty was experienced in transporting the heavy boiler, mortars, 
etc. The cost of freighting was about $2,600, and the total cost of the mill when in 
running order was about $12,000. It was a twelve-stamp mill, of the ordinary type 
of free gold mill, amalgamating in battery, and crushing wet- Its first j^erformance 
was the reduction of one hundred tons of refuse quartz, thrown aside as being too poor 
for the arastra process, which yielded one hundred dollars per ton. The mill was 
located at the Dardanelles, and here the rock was hauled from the mine. The next 
run was on ordinary quartz from the vein, unassorted, and very much to the surprise 
of all it yielded only three dollars per ton — owing, as was supposed, to defective 
amalgamation. Another run was carefully conducted for six weeks with a result of 
two dollars and forty cents per ton. Public confidence in the mine was much shaken, 
In August the mill and mine suspended operations. In the subsequent workings of 
the lode very little has been realized. The total product of this famous mine, accord- 
ing to Mr. Henry Klippel, was about $150,000, nearly all of which was taken from a 
confined space in the mine, only twenty-two feet long by ten in height and the thick- 
ness of the vein, which is less than a yard. Repeated tests of ore from other portions 
of it failed invariably, because the mine is without doubt a pocket ledge, and only to 
be successfully worked as such. The major part of the explorations subsequently per- 
formed consisted in sinking a shaft 130 feet deep, on the vein, and running two tunnels 
to intersect the shaft. A great many small prosj)ect holes have also been sunk, but 
not to any considerable depth. The vein has all of the characteristics supposed by 
" mining experts" to insure permanency. It dips somewhat to the east, has a thick, 
soft " gouge," smooth, well-defined walls, and other presumed valuable qualifications. 
After its first successful working, its ownership became the subject of a notable law- 
suit, that of Jacob Ish vs. The Gold Hill Mining Company, wherein the plaintiff 
sought to dispossess defendants. Ish had entered the land embracing the mining 
property as agricultural, aud had secured a patent thereto, the company remaining in 
ignorance thereof until its issuance. The circuit court of Jackson county sustained 
the plaintiff, but upon appeal to the supreme court of Oregon, the decision of the 
lower court was reversed, thereby, says Mr. Klippel, first enunciating the principle 
that the state courts have the authority to annul agricultural land grants to individuals 
in conflict with prior claims. Messrs. Klippel, McLaughlin & Williams lost $11,000 
on the mill. After they had demonstrated its want of success, they leased it to a party 
of Yreka miners who were equally unsuccessful. Subsequently the mill was sold 
for $5,000 to Jewitt Brothers and Douthitt, and removed to the Jewitt mine near 
Vannoy's ferry, where it did good service for awhile, and after was converted into a 
saw mill. The machinery was dismantled, and some years later the engine was 
removed to Parker's saw mill on Big Butte creek, where it is still in use. 

43 



330 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

The Blackwell lead was discovered a short time subsequent to the finding of the 
Gold Hill vein. This mine proved far less rich than the other, yielding altogether but 
a few thousand dollars, though having a very promising appearance. It was actively 
worked and produced at first a good supply of beautiful specimens worth some thous- 
ands. In the summer of 1860 and subsequently, it was owned by C. C Beekman, 
William Hoffman, Dr. L. S. Thompson and U. S. Hay den, who made a contract with 
the proprietors of the Gold Hill quartz mill to work the mine and crush the ore, turn- 
ing over to the owners of the lead the amount realized above necessary expenses of 
working. The deposit of quartz gave out, however, and the attempt failed. At later 
times the Blackwell lead has been worked, but to no apparent purpose. In 1882 a 
rotary quartz crusher was put up at the mine and is being experimented with. The 
total yield of the Blackwell has been from ten to twenty thousand dollars. 

The Jewitt ledge, situated on the south side of Bogue river in township thirty-six, 
south, range five, west, was first prospected in 1860 by the Jewitt brothers, Avho had 
caught the quartz fever in common with the rest of the population of Jackson and 
Josephine counties. Indications proving favorable they associated themselves with 
D. William Douthitt, of Jacksonville, and began to work their vein. They were 
signally successful ; they took out $40,000, says Mr. Klippel, and having exhausted the 
deposit, ceased work. Their rock paid fifty dollars per ton at the first clean-up, the 
lode being six feet thick at the working point. Subsequent work on the claim has 
revealed nothing of great importance, but indications are said to be favorable for another 
rich strike. In 1874 or the succeeding year Messrs. Klippel and Beekman, having 
possession of the claim, purchased an engine and boiler and set up two steam arastras 
to work the rock. But owing to certain causes their operations failed of success. The 
name Elizabeth was given to the ledge. The assay value of the rock is said to average 
twenty-one dollars, and the arastras pay twelve dollars per ton, the vein's average width 
now being three feet. 

Next in importance stands the Swinden ledge, near Gold Hill, on the donation 
claim of John Swinden. It was owned by several partners and was prospected in 1860, 
and in 1862 and 1863 was worked, by a shaft, the quartz being reduced in an arastra. 
The vein was tolerably rich, at least in one spot, and paid something above expenses, 
it is thought, though the cost of working was considerable. The ledge is two and a 
half feet thick and is still thought valuable. In the same mining region are several 
other veins which have been considerably worked and are still regarded as valuablet 
The McDonough and Shump veins are of this class. On Foot's creek quite a number 
of quartz locations have been made from which a considerable amount of wealth has 
been extracted, with a first-rate prospect for future success. In 1860 Foot's creek 
quartz mines were reported to be paying handsomely. The rock was described as dark 
and soft, with specks of gold visible throughout. ' Johnson's, and Lyons and Peebler's 
ledges were particularly successful, according to newspaper reports. In 1861 these 
leads were mentioned as having fallen off in richness, only ten dollars per ton being 
realized. On Jackson creek, especially on the right branch, several veins of quartz of 
considerable promise have at times been prospected, the greater part of the work being- 
done in 1860, directly following the Gold Hill discovery, and at a time that we may 
designate as the epoch of quartz mining, since at no previous or subsequent time have 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



331 



there beeD any developments to compare with those which took place that year. Four 
locations were found on Shively gulch, from each of which considerable gold was taken. 
The principal of these was the Holman ledge, which yielded a total of about $10,000 
as reported by credible witnesses. The rock from this mine was worked in the Jack- 
son creek quartz mill, situated at the forks of Jackson creek. This mill was erected by 
Henry Pape, who came from Yreka for the purpose and was built in the summer of 
1860, at a time when quartz excitement ran high. Mr. Pape had contracted to crush 
quartz from eight or nine ledges, on the creek, to the amount of 1000 tons for eight 
dollars per ton, provided the rock paid that much. The first run was from the Holman, 
eighty or one hundred tons of it yielding forty-two dollars per ton. From a small lot 
taken from the Davenport claim on the right branch, seventy-five dollars per ton was 
obtained ; but this mine like all the rest was speedily exhausted. Mr. Pape ran the 
mill (eight stamps, steam) for four months, at the end of that time selling two-thirds of 
it to a company of several persons, by whom it was run some months longer. In rather 
less than a year from its inception it was changed into a saw mill, and at a later date 
the battery was in use on Wagner creek, where Messrs. Anderson and Rockfellow were 
working a quartz lead. The engine was put into a saw mill on Forest creek. 

Another mill was put rather later on by Charles Drew and Samuel Bowden, a 
small affair and unsuccessful. It was located up the right branch of Jackson creek and 
in the vicinity of several promising veins mainly in Timber and Shively gulches. 
This mill differed from the others in having an amalgamating pan and settler, it being- 
supposed that there was a notable amount of silver in the veins, which would be lost in 
ordinan' battery amalgamation. The mill, after a checkered career of two or more 
years, was taken down and the boiler is now in use at Karewski's Hour mill at Jackson- 
ville, while a portion of the battery lies upon the ground not far away. 

In 1860 Messrs. Johnson, Cupps and Woods possessed a lode upon the right 
branch, from which fifty ounces of gold were taken in one day. Afterwards Mr. Elder 
purchased the interest of the two latter and with Johnson, a most persistent quartz 
miner who still pursues his chosen calling, erected an arastra near their claim, driven 
by an over-shot water wheel. Boatman and Sheets carried on work upon a vein in 
Shively gulch, with some success. Elder, Johnson's partner, was a member of the 
firm to whom H. Pape sold his quartz mill, the remaining partners being Dr. Ganung, 
afterwards the coroner of Jackson county, and three Germans. 

The extraordinary quartz mine known by the several names of the Fowler lode, 
the Aprilegate quartz mine, and the Steamboat ledge is situated in township 40, range 
4 west, on the right fork of Big Applegate, called Carberry fork, about 200 yards 
below the summit of the divide separating that stream from Brushy creek, and is 
seventeen miles by road south of the site of the trading post once owned by W. W. 
Fowler and Keeler, on Applegate creek. It was discovered in February, 1860, by 
Frank Fitterman, William Billups and others, who afterwards received into the firm 
Captain Barnes, John Ely, William P. Ferris, W. W. Fowler and G. W. Keeler, the 
two latter obtaining their interest in consequence of having furnished the "grub stake" 
by which the discoverers were enabled to prospect. The rock promised fairly at first 
and was merely explored a little, until an arastra was completed in June, 1860, and 
the lode regularly opened. For several months only an average yield was recorded, 



332 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

until the beginning of the following year, when the extremely rich portion of the ledge 
was found. Then the full wealth of the deposit was developed, and an enormous yield 
was obtained. In one week in February, 1861, money enough was made to pay all 
previous expenses of the mine. Thirty-five tons of quartz yielded $350 per ton, and 
fifty tons, comprising the next lot, produced $18,500, or $370 per ton. But these 
yields were eclipsed by successive ones, for the newspapers of the day spoke of $10,000 
as the income for one week, 1,470 ounces as the product of another, and $2,352 as the 
average yield per ton of the rock worked in March, 1861. Four arastras had been put 
up and other improvements were resolved upon, when Captain Barnes and Ely sold 
out their interest to Fowler for $6,000. Ferris had previously sold for a comfortable 
sum, leaving the seven shares divided as follows: Barnes and Ely, three shares; D. 
L. Hopkins, one; McKay and O'Brien, one; Fowler and Keeler, one; Fowler, 
Anderson and James T. Glenn, one. Mr. Samuel Taylor, a miner of experience, became 
superintendent in November, 1861, and retained that position for nearly two years, 
during which the yield was about $190,000, making with the previous yield a total of 
$280,000. Subsequently about $10,000 was taken out, and to this should be added 
about $25,000 supposed to have been realized by the O'Brien company, a rival firm 
which was working the same lead on the other side of the divide. Thus the whole 
yield of the lead may be summed up at $315,000, which is the amount reported by 
Superintendent Taylor. After using the arastras for a time, a four-stamp mill was 
erected, but the supply of rock gave out before it could be utilized. The above- 
mentioned firm of O'Brien & Company took up their claim upon the same lead, which 
infringed upon the original company and produced a lawsuit of great celebrity and 
expensiveness. The Fowler company claimed a portion of land supposed to overlie 
the vein, but which was found not to do so except for a small portion of its length. 
The other company ascertained the defect in their rival's position, and took advantage 
of it by filing an adverse claim. In the courts, after protracted litigation, the Fowler 
company won, after running tunnels and doing other work to demonstrate the truth of 
their claims. They got possession of the whole lead, but subsequently took out very 
little gold, the deposit being pretty nearly exhausted. The mine was abandoned by 
the owners but afterwards re-located by Mr. Cook, who has made efforts to prove the 
existence of yet more wealth, but thus far without success. He has tunneled about 300 
feet without noticeable results, but still works and hopes. 

This concludes the effective history of quartz mining in Jackson county, all 
developments subsequent to 1861 having an abortive cast, and being inconsequential in 
comparison with the operations of 1860-1. About 1866 quite an excitement was 
occasioned by reported discoveries of rich silver ore in the hills near Willow Springs. 
Enormous percentages were returned by assay ers and people without distinction of age, 
race or color hastened to locate claims, 256 of these being recorded. The Jacksonville 
Reporter caught the infection and in an earnest editorial uttered the opinion that the 
new silver mines of Jackson county were incomparably richer than those of the Corn- 
stock lode in Nevada, and "if properly worked will produce enough of wealth for 
every man, woman and child in Oregon." In conclusion the editor expressed the 
heartfelt wish that there should be no legal squabbling about the ownership of claims. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 333 

Litigation proved unnecessary; and within a few months "every man, woman and 

child in Oregon" knew that the silver veins contained no silver. 

Of a better sort is the Esther mine on Upper (have creek. This mining property 
lies in a belt of valuable quartz ledges, and is thought to be a good mine, although 
undeveloped. The possessors are the Messrs. Browning, father and son, who 
have labored tor years to get the mine in shape to produce. It is on the right 
bank of Grave creek, a mile from the stream, and the vein is from one to two feet 
thick. There was a time — about 1876 — when the Esther was the foremost min- 
ing property in Jackson county; but lack of skill or capital, or both, have 
injured its successful working. A mill containing four stamps, driven by water, was 
put up some half dozen years ago, and later on a joint-stock company secured the 
property and worked it somewhat, running for two years with considerable success. 
The rock, partaking of the milling character, yielded twelve or fourteen dollars per 
ton. 



CHAPTER XL. 



THE EARLY PIONEERS. 

The Earliest Pioneers in Jackson County — The First Impressions — A Lovely Valley— Contrasts — The Southern 
Route — Settlers in 1851 — The First Land Claims Taken — Discovery of Gold at Rich Gulch — Rapid immi- 
gration of Miners — A Rush — Roads. 

The early pioneers of Rogue river valley have with singular unanimity and 
earnestness borne witness to the sensations with which their hearts were thrilled 
when they first set eyes upon the fair region of which we now speak. Those 
tired and travel-worn men and women had set out for the Pacific shore as for a 
land of promise, and throughout the long and terribly wearying journey had 
traveled slowly toward the setting sun, intent only upon reaching the country so often 
but dimly described, and from whence such romantic and charming accounts had come. 
They watched the passage of time while days lengthened into weeks and months, and 
the slow beasts of burden dragged the loaded wagons, the emigrant's shifting home, 
and man and beast alike felt the heavy ills of life. The desolate and never-ending 
plains, the drouth, the imminence of death from thirst and hunger, the ever-present 
fear of hostile Indians, and the terrible isolation and loneliness of the route, weighed 
upon the souls of even the strongest, and many laid down their heavy burdens and sank 
to rest far from the goal they had struggled to reach. Perhaps there never lived a 
class of men and women of such strong and self-reliant character as these early 



334 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

pioneers. They were cradled in hardship, spending their early years on the border of 
the then uttermost west. To penetrate into unexplored wilds and there subdue the 
earth, and lay the foundation of a state was to them a second nature — a desire trans- 
mitted from their parents, whose glorious characteristic was also to advance the bounds 
of progress and civilization, and make glad the waste places where man had never 
previously trod. Theirs was the mission to keep forever in the fore-front of the battle 
which man is ever waging with the forces of nature, and from the wildest regions 
accessible to man to send back the glad news that freedom had found yet another 
breathing place. Of such descent, and of such aspirations, were the pioneers of Jack- 
son county, and how they fulfilled their self-appointed task these pages will briefly 
and imperfectly tell. 

After the straits to which a six-months' land journey across the most desolate part of 
North America had brought them, how welcome to their vision must have been the 
sight of the grassy plains, the wooded slopes, and tree-fringed water courses of Southern 
Oregon. How deep the song of thankfulness that arose from their breasts ! Possibly 
the divine artificer could have created a more beautiful, a more fruitful valley, but 
doubtless he never did. If we may believe those pioneers, the country was one of 
primitive wildness, yet of obvious fertility and productiveness. The wild grasses grew 
in profusion, covering everywhere the land as with a garment of the softest and most 
luxuriant verdure. The hill sides were concealed beneath this marvelous plant growth 
which hid nature's ugliest scars from view. The rich soil, as yet unimpaired in fer- 
tility, sent up the stalks to the height of a man or of a horse. Wild berries nourished ; 
the beautiful mountain streams, clear as glass and of most refreshing coolness, ran, 
unpolluted by the dirt from mine*. The wild deer and elk, grazed undisturbed in the 
open meadow, or sought the shade of their leafy coverts and gazed out upon their 
quiet world. The hill tops, now mainly covered by dense thickets of manzanita, 
madrone and evergreen brush, were then devoid of bushes and trees because of the 
Indian habit of burning over the surface in order to remove obstructions to their seed 
and acorn gathering. In the streams roved the trout, the salmon-trout and the salmon, 
the favorite sustenance of the Indians. Some scattered villages of natives formed 
the only fixed population of the beautiful Rogue river valley, which were located near 
Table Rock, on Ashland creek, Little Butte creek, and at a few other points, where in 
after years they struggled manfully against the incoming tide of white settlers. 

Such was the aspect of the lovely valley of Rogue river when first beheld by the 
immigrants at the close of their arduous journey. The current of emigration which, 
setting at first for the vale of the Willamette, had been partially diverted toward the 
gold fields of California, suffered a still further change by the beginning of 1852, 
when the gold placers of the Rogue river country were discovered and the town of 
Jacksonville was founded. To thoroughly understand this change it is necessary to 
review a portion of the preceding events. The Willamette valley, we have said, was 
the objective point of the stream of immigration, prior to the discovery of gold in 
California. Since 1843 the fertile region of the Willamette had received constant 
though small accessions of population, the most of whom, starting from the border 
states and territories of the Mississippi valley, found their way by long and toilsome 
journeys to the Columbia region, The Dalles being a point upon their route. The 



JACKSON COTjNTY. 335 

Cascade range lying to the oast of the infant settlements upon the Willamette, as yet 
had not been explored, and was supposed to present insuperable obstaeles to travel. 
To the south of the settlements lay Southern Oregon, known only to a few adventurous 
spirits who had traveled its wilds and brought back reports of the untamable ferocity 
of its inhabitants. The condition of things was such as to prevent the Rogue river 
valley and the neighboring regions from being explored, although no doubt even at 
that early day its fertility and desirability were partly understood and somewhat 
spoken of. In another part of this volume the experiences of the trappers and earlier 
travelers through this region have been set forth as far as they relate to the character 
of the Indian inhabitants, and some of the more notable expeditions between the Wil- 
lamette and California have been mentioned. Of a more important character was the 
expedition of the Applegates, in 1846, in search of a route by which the emigrants, 
now coming overland in increasing numbers, could reach the Willamette more easily 
and quickly than by The Dalles route. This journey of discovery, previously referred 
to herein, resulted in opening a passage by which many thousands of people entered 
Oregon and California, it being widely known under the name of the southern route, 
or south road. In the year of its discovery a considerable number of people entered 
Oregon, passing through the Rogue river valley, the Hue of travel entering at the head 
of Bear creek and following the old California and Oregon trail from the Siskiyous 
down Bear or Stewart's creek to the Rogue river, and keeping along the south side of 
that stream to a point one and a half miles southwest of the present village of Grant's 
Pass, where it crosses the river, and turning north, proceeded by a hilly and uneven 
course northward to the Canyon, on the southern border of Douglas county, there 
entering the Umpqua valley. Returning from Fort Hall the Applegate party acted 
as guides for the first emigrants who passed over the route, their way taking them 
through the country of the Modoc and the Piute tribes, who were very troublesome, 
murderino- one of the white men at Lost river and stealing some stock. 

During the progress of the Cayuse war, which followed the massacre of Doctor 
Whitman, near Walla Walla, in 1847, Governor Abernethy wished to send a message 
to the commandant of the United States' forces in California, soliciting aid in prose- 
cuting hostilities. Jesse Applegate was chosen as messenger, and provided with an 
escort of sixteen men — Levi Scott, John Scott, William Scott, Walter Alonteith, 
Thomas Alonteith, A. G. Robinson, William Gilliam, Joseph Waldo, James Campbell, 
James Fields, John Minto, James Lemon, John Dise, Solomon Tethero and George 
Hibbler. The party set out from La Creole (Rickreal) in Polk county, and arrived at 
the Siskiyou mountains about the first of February, 1848. Here, instead of passing 
directly across into California, they undertook to travel eastward for a distance, and 
"were lost in the snow. Half of the party turned back, taking all the horses, while 
Jesse Applegate with eight others pushed on by the aid of snowshoes. They, too, had 
to succumb to the depth of the snow and the rigor of the season, and turning north- 
ward they overtook the others at the South Umpqua river, and proceeded with them 
to the Willamette. Xo difficulties were experienced on account of the Indians, nor 
w T ere the latter molested. 

In 1848, 1849 and 1850 the Rogue river valley was increasingly traversed, mainly 
by parties of gold seekers on their way to California or returning to the Willamette. 



336 SOUTHERN OREGON 

These men, intent chiefly upon the acquisition of gold, were not of a class to do more 
than slightly note the beauties of nature as exemplified in the luxuriant fauna and 
flora of the charming, yet wild and dangerous, region through which they had to pass. 
Thus far not only were no settlements made in Jackson county, but no reason existed 
for such settlements, excepting the obvious one of the country's fertility. It was too 
isolated for the abode of an agricultural community, and possessed the disadvantage of 
being occupied by hostile Indians, whereas the Willamette, whose farming industries 
were the most extensive on the coast, was devoid of disaffected aborigines. The time 
was not yet ripe for the advent of the race of pioneers, who were to change the scene 
of primitive wildness into the abode of industrious humanity, and build upon 
the haunts of wild beasts and wilder Indians the foundations of a peaceful and pros- 
perous society. 

In 1851 began the settlement of the county, or more properly sjDeaking, it then 
began to be looked upon as a possible home for settlers. In the spring and summer of 
that year three houses or stations became occupied permanently by white men, these 
being the three ferries on Rogue river, namely, Long's, Evans' and Perkins'. Other 
than these there were no houses or cabins between the South Umpqua and Yreka; or, 
in other words, Jackson county was uninhabited by whites, except .for the few em- 
ployes of the ferries and the transient travelers who might be upon the road, or rather 
trail, leading from California to the Columbia. Curry county, the westernmost of the 
tier of three, was likewise uninhabited, receiving its first white population on the 
ninth of June of that year, when Port Orforcl was taken possession of. 

The beauty, healthfulness and fertility of the valley had not proved sufficient 
incentives to induce the immigrants to pause here in their journey and occupy the 
pleasant land, for causes which we have slightly touched upon, and it was reserved for 
the tremendous attractive power of gold to cause the valley to become peopled, an effect 
which was brought about very rapidly, as we shall see. In the spring of 1851 travel 
became more than ever impeded by the depredations of the Indians, and organized 
efforts became necessary in order to keep open the trail then becoming much used. 
Murders and robberies were frequently reported, and Governor Gaines, ex-officio super- 
intendent of Indian affairs for Oregon, made a treaty with the Indians in midsummer, 
his action being preceded by a short but effective campaign by United States troops and 
volunteers combined against the braves of Sam and Joe, wherein the natives were badly 
beaten. The details of these operations having been set forth in the account of the 
Indian wars, the reader is referred thereto for the details and effects of the campaign. 
Directly following the close of hostilities Judge A. A. Skinner came to the valley in 
pursuance of his duties as Indian agent, and took up his residence southeast of Table 
Rock, on a donation claim supposed to have been the first taken in Jackson county, or 
in the whole Rogue river valley, for that matter. His house was the first one built on 
Bear creek and was a small log structure. With Judge Skinner resided the govern- 
ment interpreter, Chesley Gray, who took a donation claim adjoining and built a house 
upon it in order to comply with the law governing the holding of donation claims. He 
preferred to reside at the agent's, however. The Skinner claim is now the property of 
John B. Wrisley, while Isaac Constant owns the Gray claim. Moses Hopwood came 
from the Willamette with the oldest of his nine children and settled upon the well 




Public School, Roseburg, 
Douglas County. 



Walung ■ L i 



LAND, OK 



JACKSON COUNTY. 337 

known Hopwood farm on Bear creek, near the two just mentioned, filing his claims 
thereto on Christmas, 1851. At about the same date Kennedy and Dean settled on 
the Willow Springs farm. Several other settlers came in at nearly the same time, and 
early in the year 1852 Judge Rice occupied the location next to Skinner's and brought 
his wife and a small family, the lady probably being the second of her sex to locate 
permanently in the valley. The Rice place has been occupied by the family ever 
since, and is now owned by the widow. Mrs. Lawless possessed the distinction of being 
the first white woman settler, coming some time in the early part of 1852. Directly 
after hi> arrival Mr. Hopwood brought the wife and the remainder of his family from 
Portland, and set about farming on a small scale, being the pioneer of the farmers of 
Rogue river valley. In December, 1851, Stone and Poyntz took up their land claims 
at the crossing of "Wagner creek and resided there for a short time, returning to their 
families in the East in 1852. An old man named Lewis took a claim adjoining theirs, 
but going to the "Willamette valley for a stay of several months, his claim was "jumped" 
in his absence and he failed to recover it. A little later than Poyntz, Stone aud Lewis, 
L. J. C. Duncan, now of Jacksonville, located a claim at Wagner creek, sometime in 
December, 1851. Chris. Thompson also came before the beginning of 1852 and accord- 
ingly ranks as one of the very earliest of the pioneers. 

At the ivpper end of the valley the Mountain House claim was taken up and here 
resided Barron, Russell and Gibbs. On the Tolman place were Patrick Dunn, Thomas 
Smith and Frederick Alberding. The following white persons were residing in the 
Rogue river valley on Xew Year's clay, 1852 : Major Barron, John Gibbs, Russell, 
Thomas Smith, Patrick Dunn, Frederick Alberding (R. H. Hargadine came to Ash- 
land in January), Stone, Poyntz, Lewis, L. J. C. Duncan, (E. K. Anderson and brother 
came to "Wagner creek in January), Samuel Colver, Judge Skinner, Chesley Gray, 
Sykes and two others residing at Skinner's ; Moses Hopwood and two sons, N. C. Dean, 
Bills and son, Davis Evans and one or two others at Evans' ferry ; Perkins, and prob- 
ably one assistant. Total, twenty-seven or twenty-eight persons, all males. At Per- 
kins' ferry was a log house, supposed to have been the first one erected on Rogue river, 
which was fortified to resist Indian attacks, but notwithstanding his fortress Perkins 
was obliged to leave during the latter part of 1851, fearing the natives. 

On the present Chavner place near Gold Hill, an old man named Bills had located, 
with his son. These men experienced great difficulty with the other whites, being- 
charged with having conspired with the Indians to murder all the settlers. It is not 
very clear whether one or both of them became objects of susjricion, but it seems that 
they had to leave the country. One account is to the effect that the young man was 
detected in the conspiracy in his father's absence, and was arrested by the miners on 
Big Bar; while others recount that the old man was the suspected party. Forty pairs 
of blankets, some allege, was the price demanded for his surrender by Sam and Joe 
with whose people the culprit had taken refuge, and this Judge Skinner paid. 

In January, 1852, the placers on Jackson creek were discovered by Sykes, Clug- 
gage, Poole and others, and an extensive immigration of miners began immediatelv on 
the dissemination of the news. In March it was estimated that from 100 to 150 men 
were working in the vicinity of Jacksonville, mainly on Rich gulch and the right 
branch of Jackson creek. James Skinner, nephew of the Judge, was among the 



338 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

lucky ones, and took out a decent fortune within a few weesk. Later in the season 
" Old man Shively," working in the gulch which bears his name, accumulated $50,- 
000 and set out for home, guarding the box containing his wealth with a drawn 
revolver. At Big Bar a party of eight or ten men had early worked with rockers, 
and in the summer at the time of the Indian disturbances, wherein Lamerick and his 
company distinguished themselves, there were at times some hundred or more workers 
on the bar. Prospectors had begun at once to examine all the region, moving out 
from the Jackson creek diggings as a center, and prospecting every gulch, streamlet 
and hill side for many miles. The miners who in the preceding year had worked, 
on Josephine and Canyon creeks, in what is now Josephine county, had mostly 
deserted those diggings and betaken themselves to other scenes; but many of these 
now returned to Jackson county and engaged in mining. At an early date gold- 
bearing gravel was struck at the present Cameron place, on Applegate creek, and 
shortly after Forest creek was invaded by a small army of miners, who worked with 
excellent results amid its sands. The greater part of the mining was done with the 
rocker, scarcity of water preventing the use of toms. Foot's creek became a noted 
mining ground, hardly second to Forest creek. By the middle of the summer of 1852, 
not less than a thousand miners had arrived in the valleys of Rogue river and its 
tributaries, and prospected nearly every spot where gold was likely to be found. The 
wave which had swept over California and laid bare its mineral treasures, was now 
expending itself upon the far northern verge of the great auriferous belt, and its first 
low wash had crept up the foothills of Southern Oregon, the forerunner of the mighty 
human sea which was to follow. 

Thus begun the active progress and development of Jackson county. With the open- 
ing of the placers, and the influx of miners, there sprang up a demand for the neces- 
saries of life, from whence trade took root and flourished, and merchants and packers 
entered upon their occupations. The chief seat of trade and activity was Jacksonville, 
which place quickly assumed the appearance and reality of a flourishing mining center 
and was frequented by the workers from all the neighboring diggings. Provisions for 
such a throng were, of course, difficult to procure, being of distant production and con- 
sequent high price. Long trains of animals, mostly mules, performed the important 
and arduous service of bringing, from the Willamette valley and from Scottsburg, the 
necessaries of life most in demand, for it was not until several years later that the wagon 
roads were constructed, which, in their turn, connected the valley with the outer world. 
The principal highways, or, rather, trails, leading from Jacksonville were the road over 
the Siskiyous and the road northward to the Umpqua,, via the Canyon. A year or two 
later, the Crescent City road was projected and laid out, whereby that port became a 
successful rival of Scottsburg — in earlier years a place of much real and enormous spec- 
ulative importance. Its fortunes began to sink by the year 1853, and within a few 
years it had ceased to be an important factor in the commerce of the Rogue river valley. 
Crescent City, on the contrary, grew and flourished at the expense of its northern 
rival, and shortly absorbed the trade which formerly centered at the mouth of the 
Umpqua. In 1851, the general government, through the military officers on the 
Pacific coast, resolved upon a road for military purposes from Scottsburg to Camp 
Stewart, on Bear creek, and in October, 1851, Major Alvord completed a survey of 



JACKSON COUNTY. 339 

that portion of the road lying south of Myrtle creek, in Douglas county, choosing 
the Canyon route in preference to several others lying to the eastward. The road, for 
the greater part of its course, coincided with the old "Oregon trail." Congress appro- 
priated money for its construction, amounting in the aggregate to $120,000, and this 
money, or rather a portion of it, was expended under the direction of Colonel Hooker, 
afterwards called "Fighting Joe." 

In the spring of 1852, several settlers began to experiment on the productive 
qualities of their lands, putting in whatever crops their very limited resources would 
admit. The grain and vegetables used for seed were brought from the Willamette 
valley and planted in soil whose capabilities were in no degree understood. The result 
of the first season's work was discouraging, indeed, to the new-comers, for the unusual 
drought of that year prevented the plants from coming to maturity. Some of the set- 
tlers planted several acres of potatoes, with the expectation of realizing well upon 
them, but scarcely sufficient tubers were procured from their fields to keep their fami- 
lies from starving. Breadstuff's rose to an enormous value; late in the year, flour attain- 
ing a maximum price of a dollar and a quarter per pound. In the previous autumn it 
had ranged from twenty to thirty cents, with other' articles in proportion. A great 
many land claims were taken up in the year 1852, and nearly all the bottom lands of 
Bear creek valley were claimed, mostly by people from the Willamette. If there is 
any distinction to be made in the origin of the mining and farming population, it lies 
in the fact that the farmers were mostly Oregonians, while the greater part of the miners 
were from the California placers. But many embraced both occupations, pursuing the 
one when the weather served for mining, and returning to their donation claims when 
water gave out. For, as yet, only the shallowest placers were worked, and very little 
skill was necessary in order to successfully extract the gold, nor was much apparatus 
required. Thus a large number of settler had gathered and found occupation in the 
vicinity of Bear creek and its tributaries, the enterprising pioneer farmer had entered 
upon his pursuits, the mines were in an extremely productive condition, though, as yet, 
only the simplest and most laborious processes were in use, and the new town of Jack- 
sonville Avas gaining rapidly and proving its advantageous location for trade and activ- 
ity. The most valuable sites for farms were occupied that year by individuals, many 
of whom still live to reap the result of their timely and sensible action. Thus, within 
the space of one year, this rich and fertile country had become populated and advanced 
far upon the highway of rapid and thorough development. Even at that early day 
her resources had become recognized; her mines of gold were being prospected and 
worked as rapidly as the nature of things would admit; her forests of fir and pine were 
being drawn upon for lumber to serve the multifarious uses of the farmer, the miner 
and the inhabitant of towns. Precise accounts of the immigration of 1852 are not 
at hand, but the reader will remember that it was in this year that the tide of human- 
ity, previously setting for the Willamette valley and the .mines of California, was, in 
some measure, diverted to the Rogue river valley, whereby many settlers were added 
to those who came from other portions of the Pacific slope. In this connection, the 
reader will also recall the Tule lake massacre by Modocs and the subsequent exploits of 
Wright and Ross and their brave followers, as described in previous pages of this book. 
In the following year, 159 wagons came to Rogue river valley, via the southern route, 



340 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

from the east, accompanied by 400 men, 120 women and 170 children. These pioneers 
brought 2600 cattle, 1300 sheep, 140 loose horses and forty males, with agricultural 
and household implements suited for use in the new country, where they set about 
making their homes. 



CHAPTER XLL 

GENERAL PROGRESSION. 

Organization of the County — Precincts — Interruptions of Growth— Mills — The Wheat Crop— Jackson the Leading 
County — Division of the County — Present Boundaries — Mineral Resources Vast but Unexplored. 

The county of Jackson was organized by an act of the legislature passed January 
12, 1852, creating and defining the limits of the county. Its boundaries are as follows: 
Beginning at the southwest corner of Umpqua county ; thence east to the northwest 
corner of Douglas county; thence southerly along the western boundary line of Douglas 
to the southwest corner of that county; thence east along the southerly boundary of 
Douglas to the southeast corner thereof; thence northeast to the eastern extremity of 
the Rogue river valley; thence south to the boundary of California and Oregon; thence 
west to the Pacific coast; thence north to the point of beginning. Thus the county 
originally embraced a very extensive area, from which, in subsequent years, the counties 
of Josephine, Curry and Coos have been carved, while still a good-sized principality 
remains under the original name. Previous to the formation of the county, the whole 
region south of the Willamette had been nominally attached to one or the other of the 
northern counties, the legislature by enactment dated December 28, 1847, giving the 
name of Linn county to "all of Oregon south of Marion county and east of Benton." 

Jackson county's public affairs were first managed by a board of appointed offi- 
cers, of whom James Cluggage, N. C. Dean and Abel George w^re county commis- 
sioners; Dr. C. E. Alexander, clerk; E. H. Blanchard, elisor, to serve until the election 
of a sheriff; Thomas McF. Patton, prosecuting attorney; and Richard Dugan, 
treasurer. These officers dated the beginning of their official life in the spring of 
1853, the first meeting of the board of commissioners taking place March seventh of 
that year. One of the first acts of the board was the establishment of precincts. 
These were at Emery & Company's sawmill, Ashland; at the house of William Law- 
less, at the Dardanelles; at Benjamin Halstead's house, in Perkinsville (Perkins' 
ferry); at Harkness & Twogood's house, on Grave creek; at Hardy Eliff's house, on 
Cow creek; at Dr. Edward Sheil's, on Applegate creek; at Miller & Company's house, 
on Canyon creek (Illinois river) ; at J. C. Anderson & Company's place, on Althouse 
creek; at the Robinson House, in Jacksonville; and at Gamble & Tichenor's, in Port 



JACKSON COUNTY. 341 

Orford. Each of these precincts was empowered to elect one constable and one justice 
of the peace, excepting Jacksonville and Althouse, which were entitled to two of each. 

It was while the pioneer miners and tanners were thus industriously engaged in 
laying broad and deep the foundations of a permanent civilization that hostilities with 
the Indians again began. In August, 1853, a number of residents of Bear creek 
valley fell victims to savage ferocity and vindictiveness. Instantly the flames of war 
broke forth. Companies of volunteer soldiery, armed with rifles, shot-guns, revolvers, 
or whatever weapon at command, were organized, and arrangements were made for 
vigorously prosecuting hostilities against the natives, and avenging the blood already 
spilt. Within five days a force of men were in the field sufficient to check the enemy 
and protect the helpless from the incursions of the cruel marauders. The details of 
the series of encounters known as the war of 1853, have elsewhere been fully treated, 
and so will be merely referred to upon occasion. Mining operations and general 
improvements were almost entirely brought to a standstill during these difficulties, but 
revived immediately upon the conclusion of peace, and quickly assumed a more perma- 
nent character than at any previous time. At that epoch a very large proportion of 
the newly arrived immigrants were farmers by occupation and choice, and were of a 
class peculiarly adapted to satisfy the needs of a country like this, being young, vigor- 
ous and inured to hardship and and active labor. These established themselves upon 
land claims on Bear creek or other tributaries of Rogue river, affecting, mostly, the 
level bottom lands as more productive and easily cultivated than the hill lands. 

The town of Jacksonville, the most flourishing locality in Oregon and a most 
important trade center, quickly regained the commerce which had been hers before the 
war, and supplied all the neighboring camps with the necessaries of life. Pack-trains 
laden with the articles indispensable to miner and settler, were arriving and departing 
daily. The rich resources of the valley lands were being drawn upon to furnish 
breadstuffs, to the exclusion of the products of the Willamette valley ; trains of 
wagons had begun to traverse the new routes, and were engaged in freighting goods ; 
and everything appeared to warrant a continuance of these flush times. By 1854 two 
flouring mills upon Bear creek were built, the one by the Thomas Brothers, the other 
by Hellman, Emery and Morris, of Ashland. The former was the Eagle mills, 
now owned by the Farnham heirs ; the other the Ashland mills, at present owned and 
conducted by Jacob Wagner. Considerable wheat had been raised in 1853 — an 
exceptionally favorable season — and in the following year the farmers prepared to 
enter upon its culture to a great extent. The value of the bottom lands for the 
crop had now become known, and its extreme profitableness was recognized. Wheat 
raising then became and has ever since maintained its standing as the principal farm 
crop, exceeding any other, and even all others combined, in extent. The conditions 
surrounding the agriculture of this region have always been peculiar. A first-rate 
home market has always existed, nearly sufficient at all times to consume the most 
plentiful crops, and this has been a cash market also, wherein money could be imme- 
diately realized by the producer of grain, vegetables and meats. The very large con- 
sumption of flour, the miner's chief article of subsistence, created the demand for 
wheat in preference to other food products, and the continuance of that demand main- 
tained the conditions which surrounded agriculture at the beginning. Without com- 



342 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

petition from abroad, and with almost positive certainty of at least a tolerable crop, 
the industrious and provident farmers became, in the course of time, the most pros- 
perous and wealthy of their class on the Pacific slope, and the Rogue river valley, 
partaking of their good fortune, advanced with rapid strides toward prosperity and 
plenty. 

The new facilities for making flour induced many more to enter upon wheat 
growing, and it was remarked that the quantity of that grain in the Rogue river 
valley in the fall of 1854 was greater in proportion to the population than elsewhere 
in Oregon. The wheat crop of 1855 was an extremely abundant one, the general 
average being over thirty bushels per acre, while many fields produced over forty. The 
two mills on Bear creek being incapable of turning the immense crop into flour, another 
and much larger mill was erected at Phoenix, by S. M. Wait, at great expense. 
Wheat flour of an excellent quality sold as low as four cents per pound, wholesale, a 
trivial price in comparison with its cost three years before. Lumber, also, was held at 
moderate figures, being produced in considerable quantities by various small saw mills. 
A. V. Gillette had erected the first of these in 1852, and William Hughes in the fall 
of the following year put up a small water power mill to cut lumber for Fort Lane, 
then in process of erection. Hughes received $125 per thousand feet for his lumber. 
In 1854 Milton Lindley constructed his mill near Phoenix, a water driven concern. 

Jackson county in the fall of 1855 had attained the foremost place in the list of 
Oregon's counties/being the most populous and wealthy of all. At no time in its 
history had affairs borne a more encouraging appearance, aside from the coming Indian 
troubles, or had brighter or more cheering anticipations filled the minds of its inhabi- 
tants. When hostilities finally closed in the spring of the next year, affairs revived 
from the stagnation produced by the appearance of war, and business quickly assumed 
more than its usual activity, as if to atone for the season of enforced idleness. New- 
firms were established at various points, especially at Jacksonville ; mechanics were in 
demand at high wages and steady employment; and the thousand and one ways in 
which flush times manifest their existence, became visible. The gravel mines were 
now being worked extensively and by more improved means than during the earliest 
years. The sluice was in use wherever a sufficient supply of water could be procured, 
and ground sluicing also was much depended on. The out-put of gold had reached 
its maximum. The total amount could not have been less than three millions annually, 
if we count the whole extent of the present Jackson county and the territory to the 
west, wherein were included the very important mines of Sailor Diggings, Althouse, 
the Ocean Beach diggings, and many other productive sources. Josephine county 
was set off from Jackson by act of the legislature dated January 22, 1856, since which 
time it has not been customary to include her yield of gold with that of the present 
county. This loss of territory restricted Jackson county's boundaries somewhat, and 
subsequently they have continued thus : Commencing at the northwest corner of 
township 33 south, range 5 west, the line follows Cow creek eastward to the divide 
between Rogue river and Elk creek; thence northeast to the source of Rogue river ; 
thence south along the east line of range 4 east, to the California line ; thence west to 
the intersection of the west line of range 4 west , thence north to township 36 ; thence 



JACKSON COUNTY. 313 

west to the southwest corner of that township ; thence north along the west line of 
range 5 to the place of beginning. 

In the earlier years of the gold excitement, and before the county began to be 
surveyed by land surveyors, the southern boundary of Oregon, like all arbitrary 
divisions of the surface of the great northwest, was, necessarily, not determined. In 
the year 1851 the legislature of Oregon, we may instance, passed an act appropriating 
funds to enable the surveyor-general to ascertain "if Shasta Butte City [since called 
Yreka] were in Oregon or not." Such was the condition of ignorance of topography 
which necessarily pervaded the public mind at the time, and still, but to a lesser 
extent, pervades it. If the country was almost a terra incognita at the time as regards 
its topography, still more so was it true of the geology of the land. And most unfor- 
tunately that condition of geological ignorance remains almost unabated to the present. 
It would be easy to show that Southern Oregon, particularly Jackson county, is unex- 
celled in its boundless resources for the study of geology, and its associated branch 
paleontology, but no one has appeared as yet to lead the way to even the most meager 
application of them to the natural history of the region. It is probable, however, that 
in the near future we may look for such a thorough examination of the rock forma- 
tions of the country as will demonstrate fully its unexampled resources, both in a 
scientific and utilitarian point of view. The importance of a geological survey was 
early recognized. Some naturalists, employed by the United States in the early 
"fifties" made a sort of random inspection of certain districts on the Pacific coast, and 
reported large discoveries of coal, quartz and other valuable minerals, whereby the 
Oregon legislature was induced to resolve, on January 20, 1855, that " Whereas, a 
general geological reconnoissance has been made by United States geologists for the 
territories of Oregon and Washington, showing the existence of extensive beds of coal, 
limestone and other minerals; Resolved, that our delegate in congress be instructed to 
procure a sufficient appropriation to make a survey in detail of the coal fields and gold 
region of Oregon." The subject proceeded no farther, and Oregon, while owing noth- 
ing to the general government for a correct knowledge of her resources, owes as little 
to individual skill and enterprise. The great stores of useful minerals which certainly 
exist in Southern Oregon are suffered to lie dormant, awaiting the touch of the mighty 
magicians of the future, whose knowledge, skill and enterprise shall exceed ours as we 
exceed our ignorant ancestors. 



CHAPTER XLII 



SOCIAL AND OTHER TOPICS. 

Mining- Regions Most Fruitful in History— Effects of the Decreased Gold Production— Educational— Agricultural 
Society— The Telegraph— Chinese in the Mines— Fraser River— Other Rushes— The Ledford Massacre- 
Romance of Indian George and Mary. 

From the settlement of the Indian difficulties until the present time, the history 
of Jackson county presents the diversified, yet unbroken, record of a mining and 
agricultural country, and neither branch has been subject to fluctuations sufficiently 
noticeable to be particularly alluded to. The stirring scenes of earlier years have 
been rightly judged to contain all history of general interest, and in comparison 
with the events of 1851-6, the remainder of the chronicles of this region are singu- 
larly bare and uninteresting. The sharpest discernment sees little in the later 
years but the usual happenings of a settled and somewhat progressive community 
who have achieved exemption from savage foes, and from want and scarcity of 
subsistence. Political wrangles, sporadic mining excitements of uncertain origin, 
the success or failure of crops, the details of an occasional homicide, the opening 
of communication with this or that sea-port, and matters of similar tenure had taken 
the place of the exciting episodes attending the discovery of gold, the settlement of the 
country, and the subjugation of the savages. Nevertheless, the country was actively 
progressing. Matters had assumed a tamer aspect, as was to be expected, but this por- 
tion of Oregon was keeping equal pace with the Pacific coast in general, and in all 
essentials of civilization and refinement was far in advance of the remainder of Oregon. 
The lack of outward communication was, in most ways, felt as an evil; yet, it would be 
easy to point out wherein it was a real good. This is especially true of the earlier 
years, when a large yield of gold created an ample market for farm products. But, in 
later years, the number of miners decreasing and that of farmers increasing, the sup- 
ply increased above demand, and, for the first time, Rogue river valley had farm pro- 
ducts for export, but had no means of exporting them, excepting the comparatively 
small quantities demanded by the neighboring mining camps of Southern Oregon and 
Northern California, and the grazers of the Klamath country. Farming, in conse- 
quence, failed to keep up its former rate of growth, but can hardly be said to have 
declined, although its profits most certainly did. The contracted agricultural 
region of the Rogue river country continued to furnish the requisite supply of edibles, 
the imports from abroad being still confined to such articles of merchandise as are 
always in demand, but never can be furnished by a new country. Thus it continued to 
be, in most respects, self-sustaining, and to a greater degree than any other mining 
town now in recollection. In subsequent years, as wheat-growing absorbed less and 
less the united powers of the farmers, other products came in vogue, most of them being 



JACKSON COUNTY. 345 

introduced with a view to supplying outside demand. Wool, bacon and. beef became 
staples, and proved the adaptability of the climate and soil to their production. Graz- 
ing became more and more important as a pursuit, and capita! looked more and more 
closely for opportunities for investment in flocks and herds. The grassy plains beyond 
the Cascades began to be populated with domestic animals, and a profitable and import- 
ant industry came to be recognized. 

Social advancement kept even pace with material progress. Many schools, 
churches and societies date their foundation from the active vears succeeding the Indian 
wars. The tone of public sentiment in Jackson county, if we may judge from circum- 
stances, always favored the education of youth, and the excellent effects thus far pro- 
duced are to be ascribed to the intelligent foresight of many of the early pioneers. And 
under a better school system than the execrable and slip-shod one in vogue in Oregon, 
still greater results might easily have been attained. The county became tolerably well 
provided with common schools, while an institution of learning, to be styled the 
Western University, was projected by enthusiastic citizens of Jacksonville, in the years 
just preceding the rebellion. This concern, advertised for a while in the Sentinel, was 
to be a full-fledged college, and to secure its existence a site was donated it, being the 
property known as Dr. Overbeck's grove. But the projectors' intentions came to 
naught, and Southern Oregon is yet without a university. 

In 1859 the Sentinel recommended the establishment of an agricultural society, as 
a measure of importance to the farmers, who would become united in action upon mat- 
ters affecting their mutual interests. The societv would also result in disseminating 
agricultural information and so be of further use. On February 8, 1860, the first 
meeting of the future association was held, John E. Ross being chairman, and organiza- 
tion was effected. The work of the society has been of use to the country at large, and 
its annual exhibitions have been very creditable. It is recollected that at the first of 
these, held where the court house stands in Jacksonville, the various agricultural, horti- 
cultural and manufacturing industries of Jackson county were well represented. Speci- 
mens of the "Gloria Mundi " variety of apples, the first raised in the valley, were on 
exhibition, grown upon the Skinner place on Bear creek, and these were purchased by 
Thomas Chavner, flushed with the distinction of owning in the treasures of Gold Hill, 
at the rate of two dollars and a half apiece. No doubt they were worth the money to 
the fruit-hungry pioneers. 

News from the outside world, at first so slow to penetrate to the camps of Southern 
Oregon, the most isolated of all the inhabited part of the coast, coming at first by the 
chance sources of occasional travelers and packers, afterwards brought by mail more or 
less regularly, and on the establishment of newspapers collected and disseminated with 
somewhat of care, for many years was uncertain and precarious. When San Francisco 
and all California had to depend on the monthly steamers, and, later on, the Pony 
express, the great events of the world's happenings could only reach to this region in a 
most fortuitous and often roundabout way. But with the construction of the overland 
telegra2)h the improvement was felt even on Rogue river, and when the wires reached 
Yreka in October, 1858, we find the Sentinel congratulating itself that it was within 
sixty-five miles of a telegraph office and hoped that Jacksonville would soon be 
included in the electric circuit. Six years later the wish was gratified in the building 



io 



340 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

of the through telegraph line, and since then Jackson county has felt herself as more 
nearly a part of the outside world. 

If it be permissible to include under the head of social movements anything per- 
taining to the "Mongolians," we may here speak of the Chinese invasion of the mines. 
These peculiar people came early to Jackson county and mostly began work upon 
claims previously abandoned by whites — their universal custom — and made no effort to 
discover new claims, being far from proficient as prospectors. Their course here was 
exactly the same as in the better known mining districts of California. That is to say ; 
they minded their own business (an amiable and valuable trait, for which the Chinese 
are to be commended above all peoples) — worked early and late — gathered little "stakes" 
by the slow process of accretion of " colors " — made no rich strikes ; or if they made 
any they never mentioned it — let politics, whisky, fighting and all other Caucasian 
forms of iniquity severely alone — indulged themselves only in "tan" and other inscrut- 
able Celestial modes of abasement — in a word lived the life of all poverty-stricken 
Chinamen far from home and friends. As in California they came at first silently, 
labored quietly, and hardly was their presence known until the stolid yellow face of 
" John " peered from every bank and every worn-out placer from Jacksonville to 
Althouse and from the South Umpqua to Sailor Diggings. When the whites awoke 
to their numbers, many of them had accumulated gold and departed for the Flowery 
Kingdom, but their places were filled by greater numbers as thrifty, careful and accu- 
mulating as themselves. The Chinese question then, as now, was a difficult one to 
deal with. Why it required any interference at all is not clear; but possible danger 
might have been apprehended from a class of beings whose habits, manners, traditions 
and general behavior is so entirely different from what is American and therefore 
proper. Besides, these Chinese were digging American gold and taking it to China, 
which was indistinctly but firmly regarded to be wrong. These people could not be 
fought, for they were unarmed and interposed no resistance. By an apparently happy 
stroke of genius the California policy of taxing them was introduced across the border 
and a tribute of two dollars per month was levied upon all Chinese and Kanakas, under 
the title of Foreign Miners' tax. Store-keepers of those nationalities were mulcted in 
fifty dollars per month. This act, passed in January, 1859, took effect at a time when 
the influx of heathen was greatest. Its effect was to somewhat diminish their apparent 
numbers, but the wily strangers found ample means to evade it, and in respect to the 
Chinese, have ever since maintained a hold upon the placers and in some instances 
have ventured upon hydraulic mining, with good results. 

In Aj)ril, 1856, occurred the Ledford massacre, the last of the tragedies caused by 
Indians. It occurred at Rancheria Prairie, at the head of Big Butte creek, and con- 
sisted in the murder of five white men by certain Indians of the Klamath tribe, who 
were residing at that place. Eli Ledford and J. Brown, of Jacksonville, and S. F. 
Conger, W. S. Probst and James Crow, of Butte creek, set out to cross the Cascades 
eastward to the Klamath lake country. They were mounted and provided with arms, 
and proceeded up Big Butte on a trail that had not been traversed, thus far, during the 
season. They were not subsequently seen alive by any white men, and their fate was 
only discovered through the merest chance. It appeared that on the fourth of May 
following, Indian Agent Abbott, with a small party set out from Jacksonville for his- 



JACKSON COUNTY. 347 

station among the Klamaths, and followed the trail of the other party up to a point in 
the mountains where the unmelted snow prevented further progress, and from whence 
Ledford and his party had turned back. Following the previous party to the Indian 
rancheria, Abbott found it deserted, the houses burned, and indications that rendered 
it probable that the five men had been murdered. Four of their horses were found 
dead, having been taken to a thicket, tied to a tree, and then shot. Abbott and his 
men returned to Jacksonville, and told their suspicions; a company of thirty citizens, 
with John Hillman and H. Klippel as leaders, set out for the spot, and after consider- 
able search found the bodies of Ledford's four companions buried, their throats cut, and 
many brutal wounds and bruises upon them, by the character of which it was judged 
that they were killed as they slept. Ledford's body was afterwards found at some 
distance away. The murderers were sought for far and wide, but without success. It 
is thought that they went into hiding in the prairies above Flounce Rock, until the 
melting of the snow allowed of their escape to their own country. The pursuit had 
lasted a month, when the searchers disbanded and left for their homes. In after years 
suspicion fastened upon several prominent Klamaths, among them a war chief, 
Skookum John, who was killed at Fort Klamath, in November, 1863, by Captain 
Kelly and Sergeant Underwood, while trying to arrest him. Two others, who were 
supposed to have had something to do with the massacre, met with violent deaths, and 
finally the last of the suspected braves was wiped out of existence at Camp Baker, near 
Phoenix, at the same date as that of Chief John's death. The event of the hanging of 
this Indian, Tyee George, on the nineteenth of November, 1863, is well remembered 
in Jackson county, and with its attendant circumstances has there become one of the 
principal romances of the time. Some Klamaths sought and obtained from their 
agent, Rogers, nicknamed "Sugar Foot," permission to reside on the west side of the 
Cascades. They came in small numbers, their chief men being George and Jack, and 
made themselves at home, roaming at will over the land and somewhat disturbing the 
settlers. They were said to have threatened individuals' lives, shot cattle, thrown down 
fences, and committed divers other misdemeanors. In consequence of these charges, 
George, who was indiscreet enough to come to town, was arrested in Jacksonville, and 
immediately delivered over to Charles Drew, commanding the volunteers at Camp 
Baker. Here his doom was speedily met: for by an unexampled stretch of arbitrary 
authority, the man in command ordered the Indian's execution at once, and he was 
hanged in the presence of the soldiery, Avithout the least delay. Jack escaped death, 
and with the most of his people hastened to safer fields, leaving George's mother, Old 
Mary, to enact her part in this little but sorrowful drama, by burying her son where 
he now lies, by the side of her own humble wick-i-up, and kindling upon his grave 
the sacred fire that in the beautiful Indian superstition is supposed to guide the 
wandering soul to the islands of the blessed. Poor old Mary is still known in Jack- 
sonville where her woes and maternal devotion have raised up sympathizing friends; 
and poetry has lent its aid to make memorable an episode resembling that of Rizpah 
and her sons, described in the scriptures. 



CHAPTER XLIL 

OTHER TOPICS OF INTEREST. 

Military Organizations in Jackson County — The Baker Guards— The Jackson Rangers — Expedition of Cap- 
tain Applegate — The Modoc War — Statistics of Population and Production — The Pioneer Society. 

During the war of the rebellion the people of Jackson county entered into the 
spirit of the occasion with characteristic energy and activity. Though far removed 
from the seat of war it aroused the feelings of every one to the greatest intensity. The 
union party testified their j)olitical views by donating liberally to the sanitary commis- 
sion, and, in individual cases, by enlisting in the volunteer service. The general gov- 
ernment made arrangements for the formation of several regiments of troops to garrison 
the various military -posts in this state and to repress Indian forays. The privates 
received thirteen dollars per month " and found," and in case that they provided their 
own horses and equipments (they were cavalry), they got twelve dollars per month in 
addition, besides a bounty of $100. Southern Oregon's quota amounted to four com- 
panies. R. F. Maury, now of Bear creek valley, was invested with the office of lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and proceeded to open a recruiting station at Jacksonville, in the fall 
of 1861. The first company raised was the Baker Guards, named in honor of Senator 
Baker, of Oregon. This body of men numbered about eighty, and were stationed at 
Camp Baker, near Phoenix. Their muster-roll follows : 

Captain, Thomas S. Harris ; First Lieutenant, Jesse Robinson ; Second Lieu- 
tenant, J. W. Hopkins ; Sergeants, R. J. Moore, William Irving, John Hurley, D. H. 
Taylor, James C. Mager, Silas Pepoon, Jr. ; Corporals, J. J. Elliott, Robert Irvin, 
Robert Bruce, Charles DufFerd, Frank Wyman, D. T. Cole. T. M. M. Wood, Joseph 
Little; Buglers, Warren Vernoy, Myron H. Field; Privates, George E. Butler, Wil- 
liam Bremer, T. J. Bradford, John R. Bond, Riley R. Barnes, C. C. Bailey, James 
Cassida, Reece Clark, S. H. Collins, D. B. Collins, Peter McDonald, C. J. Kenney, 
George W. Clapp, W. T. Lever, John B. Rains, Elihu Morgan, Marion Taylor, C. 
Dirshee, John McLaughlin, Jackson Million, John E. Hill, Milton Prickett, Orson P. 
Matthews, Augustus Laronburg, James A. Reid, Luke Standley, John Robinson, 
William A. Tull, J. E. Vail, J. W. Kimball, Simeon Peabody, AdenC. Spencer, James 
Longmire, G. W. Ashley, Gaylord Penny, J. Vanguilder, J. M. Hoxie, Warren 
Wood, Daniel McGee, Joseph B. Pepoon, J. H. Heitman, Charles Thompson, Charles 
H. Sumner, Ferdinand Wachter, George Gutting, Samuel Southerlancl, Chauncey P. 
Martin, George W. Dalton, J. H. Dalton, O. Dodge, Antonio Sandoval, William Mot- 
ley, Mahlon R. Gaskell, Eli T. Boon, William A. Jones, J. B. Perow, John Napper, 
John L. Sperry, Daniel Laughery, James Hickey, John Linnley, William R. Weddle, 
R. A. Gray, H. L. Fergusson, J. Hammill. 







NsBh*' 



«r /;i 






JACKSON COUNTY. 34'J 

The above were mainly residents of Jackson county, as were also the Jackson 
Rangers, another mounted company belonging to the same regiment. The Rangers 
wire commanded by Captain Sewall Truax, but their muster-roll not being preserved, 
it is impossible to present a list of the members, excepting Stephen Watson, John 
Brown, R. H. Casteel, Joseph Durpy, William Rand, Charles Truax, E. S. Powers, 
N. Fortney, William Pittinger, Theodore Roe, George P. Ledford, J. B. Robinson, 
Adrian Nappy and Henry Myer, all of whom were non-commissioned officers. The 
Rangers did service on the upper Columbia and Snake rivers until their discharge. 

Lindsay Applegate, fearing for the safety of the immigrants of 1851, -who were 
en route across the plains, set himself to work in August of that year, and organized a 
company of forty-two persons, armed, mounted and equipped, and set out with them 
toward the eastward, along the old emigrant trail, and did good service in protecting 
the new-comers from the ferocity of the Indians. The expedition resembled those of 
the early years of 1852-3-4, led by Ross, Miller and'Walker successively, and per- 
formed similar duties, penetrating even farther "to the eastward than had those adven- 
turous leaders. The Applegate company marched 400 miles east of the Cascades. Its 
members were L. Applegate, John Robinson, Warren Vernay, William Steward, 
Lewis Hiatt, F. F. Fulton, J. W. Mills, Thomas Williams, J. C. Raper, J. J. Carter, 
Charles Sumner, David Laugherty, J. M. Anderson, G. H. Brown, Peter Smith, Mike 
Murphy, J. P. Woodsou, J. H. Blake, W. F. Sanger, J. D. Applegate, X. L. Lee, 
G. W. Gaskill, William West, Samuel Richey, W. W. Shedd, Wallace Baldwin, w' 

D. Pittenger, J. L. McCoy, Giles Wells, Jr., W. P. Harris, John L. Sperry, J. P.* 
Chandler, Joseph Wells, Daniel Chapman, C. F. Blake, Robert Tenbrook, W. H. 
Jacquett, D. F. Cole, A. J. Walls, Isaac McCay, R. Simpkins, Ben Johnson. 

In the Modoc war of 1872-3, the citizens of Jackson county took a very promi- 
nent part. General Ross and Captain Kelley led a company of volunteers from Jack- 
sonville, who performed bravely, fighting in the lava-beds by the side of the regulars 
against Captain Jack's braves. The details of the war do not belong in a history of 
Jackson county, as the hostile occurrences took place without its bounds ; but the names 
of the Jackson county volunteers who served during the war are appended. Brioadier- 
General Ross was in chief command, with a staff composed of Majors Owen, Bell and 
Adair, and Captains Neil and Foudraj'. Captain Kelley's company was mustered in 
on December 2, 1872, and discharged between January 7 and February 12, of the 
following year. The muster-roll is as follows : 

Captain, Harrison R. Kelley ; First Lieutenant, J. W. Berry ; Second Lieutenant, 

E. R, Reames ; Sergeants, C. D. Wood, J. H. Snyder, J. W. Scranton, W. H. Roberts, 
Jasper Schockley ; Privates, A. M. Ackers, W. H. Ackers, William Adams, A. J. 
Adams, W. C. Borden, J. Baker, James Butler, J. S. Ball, A. B. Cardwell, Isaac Cox, 
D. E. Crawley, G. H. Crooks, W. D. Childers, Wesley Cole, James Downey, T. J. 
Farris, Thomas Gaston, John Gaston, F. Grobe, R. Hinkle, George W. Hamerick, J 
Heckethorn, J. T. Hunt, T. J. Howard, J. N. Harper, R. Hagan, J. E. Ish, F. W. 
Johnson, Walter Jones, G. W. Jones, Isaac Lewis, J. Lausignant, Alfred Law, J. Linn, 
James Miller, E. A. Miller, Gustave Marks, M. D. Murphy, Christopher Mays, Joseph 
McKee, Simon McKee, J. E. Newcombe, C. Xanny, A. P. Owen, B. F. Oatman, J. R. 
Powell, L. Robinson, William Rexford, O. McC. Schwatka, J. W. Savage, Elijah 



350 SOUTHERN OREGON 

Smith, Thomas Tucker, Walter M. Ware, A. J. Wright, William Williams, Thomas 
Willis. 

We find as we proceed with the history of Jackson county that a noticeable change 
takes place in the character of our narrative. We miss the stirring tales, the warlike 
incidents and the record of mining discoveries and excitements. Our story is becoming 
common-place. There is less and less of incident to narrate as we approach the present 
times. The country is becoming more populous, but is losing its character of stirring 
adventure. The shallower mines are being exhausted and abandoned ; hydraulic 
apparatus is taking the place of hundreds of toilers in deeper gravel beds; other regions 
are calling away the more active part of the mining population ; and the pursuit of 
mining, in former years overshadowing every other, sinks to a secondary position ; 
while agriculture, at first carried on but to supply the miners with the necessaries of 
life, becomes paramount and is destined to so remain. These causes worked gradually; 
and even now the small amount of mining carried on has retained so many of the tra- 
ditions and influences which formerly clustered about it that it is spoken of with more 
of consideration than its importance deserves. Formerly, as we said, there were three 
separate and distinct sorts of subjects which gave interest to the history of this valley — 
the Indian wars, mining and agriculture. Of all regions the history of agricultural 
countries is driest in detail, while no 'population furnishes so much of history as a min- 
ing one. Hence in the transformation of Jackson county from a mining locality into 
a region of farms and farmers only, we feel the gradual extinction of interest in our 
story. Still, however, we may draw a valued lesson from the art of husbandry. Agri- 
culture abounds in statistics ; and we can most readily set forth the progress and stand- 
ing of Jackson county by a reference to and presentation of such official figures and 
calculations as are at our command. 

By referring to the assessor's rolls for 1862, we find the assessed value of taxable 
property to have been $1,517,988; polls, 1,026; the production of wheat, 60,000 
bushels; barley, 6,750, and oats, 55,000. There were 6,650 horned cattle, 1,600 horses, 
1,328 sheep, and 5,000 hogs. In 1865, we find these figures slightly changed, the 
number of polls being reduced to 994. The population was then 2,995 ; of whom 
1,791 were males, and 1,204 females. The valuation of real and personal property was 
given as $1,305,583. The excess of males over females, common in all new countries, 
was being gradually eliminated, and the two sexes were being equalized in point of 
numbers. This process went on coincident with the growth of population, and while 
the number of grown-up men is no larger to-day than in the earlier years, that of 
women and children has steadily increased. The number of qualified voters has for 
more than twenty-five years remained at about 1,000, while the total population has 
trebled. We find that in 1881 the polls numbered 1,050; the gross value of property 
was $2,461,362; taxable property, $1,633,851. There were 229,678 acres of land in 
private ownership, of which 113,000 acres were improved. The cattle numbered 9,036; 
the sheep, 31,332; hogs, 9,525; horses and mules, 4,841. The roll for 1882 shows a 
total valuation of $2,464,832 for all classes of property in the county, these figures 
being supposed to represent only one-half, or, at most, two thirds, of the real value. 
This sum was divided as follows: Value of improved lands, $658,985; unimproved 
lands, $144,531; town lots, $62,982; improvements, $264,500; merchandise and imple- 



JACKSON COUNTY. 351 

men ts, $396,435; money, notes and accounts, $594,277, household furniture, etc., 
$68,735; horses and mules, $149,005; cattle, $72,335; sheep, $31,361; swine, $21,677. 
The assessment roll for 1883 shows the following facts and figures: Acres of land, 
249,399; value, $1,117,102. Average value of improved land, $8.25 per acre; unim- 
proved, $1.50. Value of town lots, $62,254; improvements, $270,644; mer- 
chandise, implements, etc., $384,098; money, notes, accounts, etc., $650,036; 
furniture, jewelry, etc., $73,818. Number of horses and mules, 4,260, valued at 
$160,269; cattle, 7,848, valued at $122,295; sheep, 31,501, valued at $42,827; swine, 
13,235, valued at $33,027. Gross value of property, $2,916,786, indebtedness, $683,- 
316, exemptions, $230,270. Total taxable property, $2,053,200. Number of polls, 
1,025. The population of the county, given by the census of 1880 as 8,116, has prob- 
ably advanced at least 1,000 persons above that estimate, through the influence of the 
railroad. 

A few years before his decease, the lamented James Sutton, speaking editorially in 
his paper, the Tidings, gave utterance to the wish that the fast-disappearing recollec- 
tions of the pioneers of Southern Oregon might by some means be preserved from 
oblivion, and so serve as the groundwork of a future history of the country. The 
subject so shaped itself in his mind that a proposition to establish a society of pioneers 
grew out of it ; and this was heartily taken up by the older settlers of the country, 
especially of the Rogue river valley, and the Association of Southern Oregon Pioneers 
sprang from it. This society has existed since with increasing activity and interest. 
The members gather annually for the purpose of discussing matters connected with the 
early history of their section, and for social intercourse. Speeches are made, narra- 
tives are told, and the contingent business of the association is transacted. A very 
large proportion of the still existing pioneers of the country are members, and these 
constitute a very respectable, intelligent and much revered class of men and women 
Avhose experiences in settling and civilizing this region have been most extraordinary, 
and far beyond the comprehension of those who were born in later days or lived sur- 
rounded by less critical emergencies. The roll of membership includes the following 
persons: Haskel Amy, O. C. Applegate, Eli K. Anderson, Elizabeth N. Anderson, 
Gilbert G. Anderson, E. L. Applegate, Lindsay Applegate, L. B. Applegate, Albert 
Alford, Catherine K. Alford, A. M. Berry, Peter Britt, Rufus Ball, C. C. Beekman, 
Rial Benedict, Mary J. Benedict (died 1880), William Bybee, Thomas F. Beall, Root- 
V. Beall, James V. Bunyard, David N. Birdsey, Kinder Boaz, H. V. Bachelder, R. F. 
Baldwin, John Beeson, W. H. Brown, Wallace G. Bishop, Mary Jane Bishop, J. A. 
Cardwell, Lewis Calhoun, Theodore Cameron, Mary Ann Chambers (died 1882), 
William L. Colvig, Helen M. Colvig, William M. Colvig, Henry W. Clayton, N. H. 
Clayton, Thomas Chavner, Jerome B. Coats, (died 1881), John Coleman, Nicholas 
Cook, Almira A. Cook, M. H. Coleman, J. H. Chitwood, Robert J. Cameron, Milo 
Caton, R. [A. Cook, George W. Cooksey, Isaac Constant, Joseph A. Crane, G. B. 
Cadwell, Lucius Danforth, David Dunlap, A. Davison, L. J. C. Duncan, E. Dimick, 
B. F. Dowell, Patrick Dunn, Silas J. Day, Patrick Donegan, H. S. Emery, E. J. Far- 
low, James J. Fryer, D. F. Fisher, Asa G. Fordyce, E. D. Foudray, James D. Foun- 
tain, Zany Ganung. E. E. Gore, W. B. Grubb, Samuel Grubb (died 1883), Samuel B. 
Grubb (died 1882), John D. Grubb, Mary E. Grubb, A. V. Gillette (died 1884), 



352 SOUTHERN OEEGON. 

Martha L. Gillette, Louis Girtman, Charles Griffith, John B. Griffin, Burrell B. 
Griffin (died 1881), C. C. Goodwin, U. S. Hay den (died 1879), Frederick Heber, 
James Hamlin, William Hoffman, Elizabeth Hill (died 1880), Jasper Houck, Addison 
Helms, John Holton, J. H. Huffer, David L. Hopkins, Michael Hanley, S. B. Hull, 
Rowland Hall, Thomas Hopwood, Rial Hinkle, George W. Isaac, Kaspar Kubli, 
Charles K. Klum, Henry Klippel, William Kahler, Georgiana A. Kahler, Silas Kil- 
gore, Edward Kilgore, W. W. Kentnor, David Linn, Arthur Laugell, N. Langell, 
Francis Logg, James Leslie, J. N. T. Miller, William M. Mathes, James McDonough, 
John N. McDonough, Rebecca McDonough, Rachel M. Mench (died 1880), John M. 
McCall, Artenecia Merriman, B. F. Miller, J. W. Manning, George W. Mace, W. C. 
Myer, B. F. Myer, J. P. McDaniel, Constantine Magruder, H. H. Magruder, J. B. 
Montgomery, Bennett Million, Margaret J. Miller, Isaac Miller (died 1878), Eliza- 
beth Miller (died 1878), Granville Naylor, Claiborne Neil, Louisa C. Neil (died 
1880), Thomas E. Nichols, John O'Brien, Joseph P. Parker (died 1882), William H. 
Parker, Payne P. Prim, Samuel Phillips, W. J. Plymale, David Penegar, Champion 
T. Payne, G. F. Pennebaker, John E. Ross, P. J. Ryan, A. G. Rockfellow, F. B. 
Rogers, James H. Russell, Thomas G. Reames, E. R. Reames, J. W. Simpson, Thomas 
Smith, Veit Schutz, Charles W. Savage, Sylvester Saltmarsh, Josej3h B. Saltmarsh, H. 
Seybert, Peter Simpson, Thomas Snell, James M. Sutton (died 1879), Joseph A. 
Satterfield, D. Hobart Taylor (died 1882), S. C. Taylor, Levi Tinkham (died 1880), 
J. C. Tolman, John Toepper, J. B. Thomas, James Thornton, S. R. Taylor, James P. 
Tufts, John R. Tice, Samuel D. VanDyke (died 1880), John B. Wrisley, John Wat- 
son, Jacob Wagner, Alexander J. Watts, Mary Ann Walker, John P. Walker, 
Thomas Wright, H. L. Webb, A. K. Williams, Miles S. Wakeman, John Wise, 
Enoch Walker, Henry York. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE TOWN OF ASHLAND. 

Settlement of the Place— Earliest Arrivals — Building up the Town — Flour Mill— School — Manufactories — The 
Academy — Woolen Mill — Churches — Masons — Odd Fellows— Good Templars — Library — Bank— Extent of 
Business — Officers — Surroundings. 

The town of Ashland is situated at the base of the Siskiyou mountains, in the 
remotest southeastern corner of Rogue river valley, at an elevation of 1,900 feet above 
the Pacific. It is the extreme southern town of Oregon, being only twelve miles from 
the California line. It was incorporated October 13, 1874, having then a population 
of 300. The first officers were Jacob Wagner, F. W. Ewing, J. R. Tozer and H. C. 
Hill, trustees; Charles K. Klum, recorder; W. C. Daly, marshal; and J. M. McCall, 
treasurer. The history of the place, as nearly as can be obtained, is as follows : On 

the sixth day of January, 1852, R. B. Hargadine and Pease settled on the land 

recently known as the Applegate farm, but now occupied by the railway depot build- 




* * 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be' inserted at a future date. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 353 

ings and new town site of the Oregon and California Railroad Company. On the 
eleventh day of the same month Eben Emery, J. B. Emery, Dowd Farley, J. A. 
Cardwell, A. D. Hellman and A. M. Rogers also came and settled near by. Improve- 
ments were immediately commenced, and tin 1 first honse built was the dwelling of 
Hargadine and Pease. The second building was the sawmill built by Eben Emery, 
J. B. Emery, J. A. Cardwell and Dowd Hurley. It was commenced in February, 
1852, and finished June sixteenth of that year, at a cost of $8,000 in money and labor, 
and was named the "Ashland Sawmill," in honor of Ashland, Ohio, Mr. Hellman's 
former home, and also in honor of the home of Henry Clay, Ashland, Kentucky, the 
majority of the company being whigs. The third building was the residence of A. D. 
Hellman, and the fourth one that of Eben Emery. In the year 1854 the Ashland 
flouring mills were built by A. D. Hellman, Eben Emery, J. B. Emery and M. B. 
Morris, at a cost of $15,000, and were dedicated by a grand ball on the night of 
August twenty-fifth of that year. These mills became the nucleus of the coming city, 
which was now laid out, with the mills occupying the south side of the plaza, around 
which the principal business part of the town is now built, and the name of the 
sawmill "Ashland " was transferred to the town. Simultaneously with the mills the 
first blacksmith shop was built by the mill company. Quite a number of other build- 
ings were soon erected, to-wit : a hotel, by John R. Foster ; a butcher shop, by Marion 
Westfall ; a carpenter and cabinet shop, by Buckingham and Williams; a wagon shop, 
by John Sheldon ; and a store by R. B. Hargadine. Ashland school district, number 
five, was now organized, and the first school was taught near the present residence of 
Mrs. Erb, two miles east of Ashland, by the Rev. Myron Stearns. The district was 
then divided at or near the Sisson place, two miles east of Ashland, the town retaining 
the name and number of the district. The first school of the town proper was taught 
in the house of Eben Emery, in the years 1854-5, by Miss Lizzie Anderson, now the 
wife of General McCall. Nothing more of special interest transpired until April 5, 
1858, when Dr. Sisson was killed. This homicide is a dark page in the history of 
Ashland, and cast a shadow over the community that was not easily dispelled. Deliber- 
ation and coolness, however, in the planning and execution of the deed, were the only 
things developed by the investigation of the case. Many theories regarding the crime 
were advanced, but the murderer was never apprehended, nor the cause of the assassin- 
nation brought to light. The hotel, known as the "Ashland House," was built in the 
year 1859, by Eben Emery (now of Eagle Point), at a cost of $3,000, by whom it was 
kept for ten years, when it was sold to Jasper Houck, the present proprietor, for 
SO. 000. The first public schoolhouse of the town was built in 1860, on a lot donated 
by R. B. Hargadine. It was a substantial frame building, eighteen by twenty feet, on 
a solid foundation of cut stone, and cost $600. In the year 1867 an addition of nearly 
the same size was made to the original building. In 1880 increased school room 
becoming necessary, a commodious two-story house, thirty-six by fifty feet, was erected 
near the old building at a cost of $2,000. In this new building a school of nine 
months in each year is taught by the best instructors the country affords, from whence 
250 scholars in its several departments draw that inspiration and culture that is to 
prepare them for work when the government shall be upon their shoulders. 

46 



354 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

The next enterprise was the marble saw-mill and shops built by James H. Rus- 
sell, in the years 1865 and 1869, for the purpose of utilizing the native marbles of the 
country. This mill turned out many magnificent slabs, which were afterward wrought 
into monuments by Mr. and Mrs. Russell. The sawing department was destroyed in 
the fire of 1879, since which time, Mr. Russell, wife and son continue the manufacture 
of monuments from American and Italian marble. To Ashland belongs the credit of 
the first marble works in Oregon, south of Portland. 

The planing mills and cabinet shops of L. S. P. Marsh & Company were projected 
and partly built by H. S. Emery, in the year 1868. In 1874, they were purchased by 
Messrs. Marsh & Valpey for $1,400. Since the succession of these gentlemen to the 
property extensive additions have been made to the buildings and machinery, which 
are now valued at $8,000. 

The Ashland college and normal school was inaugurated in 1869, at a quarterly 
conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held at Ashland in June of that year. 
Rev. C. Alderson, president of the meeting, proposed the enterprise. A committee to 
interview the people and solicit funds in aid of the project was appointed, by whom a 
very encouraging report was made. Plans and specifications were made out by the 
Rev. J. W. Kuykendall, and a contract was closed with Messrs. Blake & Emery for 
the erection of the building. Before its completion, however, funds failed and the 
enterprise was suspended. In 1872, Rev. J. H. Skidmore, at the solicitation of many 
friends, and the surrender to him, by the contributors to the original fund, of all right, 
title and interest in the concern, completed and furnished the building, and commenced 
the school as a private enterprise. Under his management', it would have been a suc- 
cess, but for the incubus of a heavy debt, with constantly accruing interest. This so 
embarrassed him that he was finally compelled to abandon the enterprise and turn it 
over to his creditors. From these it was redeemed in 1878 by its friends and placed 
again under the supervision of the above church, as a college and normal school. Prof. 
L. L. Rogers, A. M., was chosen president, and the school again started under the 
most flattering auspices and patronage. Unforeseen complications, however, arising, it 
was soon in the dust of humility. Patrons forsook it, friends became disheartened, and 
Mr. Rogers resigned his position. Though the case now seemed almost hopeless, the 
trustees resolved to make one more trial, and on August 26, 1882, the present incum- 
bent, Rev. M. G. Royal, A. M., was appointed to the management. Since his installation 
the course of the school has been onward and upward. The state has made it a branch 
of its normal school system, alienated friends are returning to it, and the highest hopes 
are entertained of usefulness for the institution. 

The Ashland Woolen Mills was originally established by a joint-stock company 
consisting of thirty members, with J. M. McCall as the leading spirit. It was inaugu- 
rated in the year 1867, and began operations in 1868, under the name and style of the 
Rogue River Woolen Manufacturing Company, with J. M. McCall, president; C. K. 
Klum, secretary ; and John Daley, superintendent. The mill was completed and 
equipped with one set of cards, one spinning jack, four looms, and the necessary oj)er- 
ating and finishing machinery, at a cost of $32,000. It was operated three years by 
the original company, without profit to the stock-holders, when it was sold to G. N. 
Marshall and Charles Goodchild. During the second year of this administration James 



JACKSON COUNTY. 355 

Thornton became a partner in the business, and in 1878 he bought the entire stock of 
the concern. In the same year W. H. Atkinson, Jacob Wagner and E. K. Anderson 
became partners with Mr. Thornton, when the name of the concern was changed to 
•• Ashland Woolen Manufacturing Company." In 1881, Mr. Wagner retired, and 
Capt. J. M. McCall again became interested in the business. Since 1878 machinery 
and improvements to the amount of $10,000, have been added. The manufacturing 
machinery now consists of one set of cards, seven broad looms, two spinning jacks of 
-40 spindles each, two full sets of knitting machinery of the latest and most approved 
styles, with every other needed appliance. The present capacity of the mill is over 
1(5,000 pounds of wool per month. It is operated day and night, the year round — 
Sundays excepted — by thirty skilled employes, and furnishes employment to as many 
other persons in the manufacture of under- wear, finishing of hosiery &c. Shawls, 
blankets and hosiery are specialties of these mills, but they manufacture all the ordinary 
woolen products. These articles find a ready market, with such increasing demand for 
them as to warrant increased capacity for their production, which is already in con- 
templation by the proprietors. The mills are run by water power and the motive 
machinery is a twenty-six-inch turbine, with thirty-two feet pressure. James Thorn- 
ton is general superintendent, W. H. Atkinson business manager, and J. R. Casey 
foreman. "A lithographic view of the mill adorns the pages of this work. 

The planing mill and cabinet shop of Daley & company were built in 1878, by 
the present proprietors, at a cost of $3,000. They are situated at the junction of 
Mechanic and Hellman Streets. The power used is the water of Ashland creek, acting 
on a turbine wheel. They have a wide range of usefulness, and turn out annually a 
large amount and variety of carpentry and cabinet work. Proprietors, W. C. Daley, 
J. E. Tozer and H. S. Emery. 

The extensive nursery of Orlando Coolidge, will bear special mention. It was 
established in 1868, and is the most extensive of its kind in Southern Oregon. It con- 
tains almost all varieties of fruits, nuts, shrubs, flowers and ornamental trees to be found 
ou the coast. Mr. Coolidge's fruits and . Mrs. Coolidge's flowers are the desire and 
admiration of neighbors and strangers. The epicure and the lover of the beautiful each 
find food for a highly cultivated taste in their orchards and gardens. 

The permanent organization of the Methodist Episcopal church in Ashland took 
place in July, 1864, by Rev. P. M. Starr, P. E., of Jacksonville circuit. The members 
were David P. Walrad and wife, A. G. Rockfellow and wife, Mrs Jacob Wagner, Mrs. 
Mary Myer, William Jaquett and wife, W. C. Myer and wife, Heaton Fox and wife, 
and D. P. Brittain and wife. The organization has been maintained and meetings of 
the church regularly held from the date of the organization to the present. In 1875-6, 
the present church building was erected at a cost of $3,500. The dimensions are 
thirty-six by fifty-six feet. The membership of the society now fifty, and of the Sab- 
bath school sixty. The trustees are Amos Willits, C. B. Kingsbury, D. P. Walrad, 
Jacob Wagner, W. C. Myer and A. G. Rockfellow. The various pastors of the M. E. 
church who have labored in Jackson county since its settlement are T. F. Royal 
Stephen Tayter, Orlando Raynour, Archy Taylor, George Greer, G. G. Belknap, 
John Flynn, C. C. Stratton, I. D. Driver, J. W. Miller, P. M. Starr, C. Alderson, J. 
W. Kuykendall, George Huohbanks, G. W. Roork,Noah Starr, W. H. Hurlburt, John 



356 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

T. Wolfe, J. H. McCain, W. T. Chapman, L. L. Rogers, Ladru Royal, B. J. Sharp, J. 
H. Skidmore and D. W. Crowell. 

The Baptists' organization in Ashland was begun in February, 1877, under the 
name of the First Baptist church. The persons connected with it at its inception were 
Rev. J. F. Bradford, Rev. A. Brown, Deacons Horace Root and C. P. Tallent, Elder 
Horace Ritter, L. W. Robertson, M. Robertson, M. A. Robertson, S. E. Ritter, Eliza- 
beth Hill and Caroline Ritter. The first meetings were held at the school house, but 
the Presbyterian church is now in use for the purpose. The pastor is Rev. A. M. Rus- 
sell. This church belongs to the organization originally known as the Umpqua Bap- 
tist Association, which dated its beginning from June, 1863 ; but at a later date that, 
association was dissolved, and another, known as the Rogue River Baptist Association 
was formed, including seven churches, three in Josephine and four in Jackson. This 
body meets annually with some one of the churches composing it, and administers upon 
its community affairs. 

The First Presbyterian church of Ashland was organized on the twenty-eighth of 
August, 1875, by Rev. Thomas Frazer, missionary agent of the synod of the Pacific. The 
original members were Mrs. M. A. Gillette, E. Giddings, M. Jacobs, Mr. and Mrs. W. W. 
Kentnor, Mrs. Woodson, U. Ewing, J. Buick, A. H. Russell, M. M. Dunn, B. Taylor, 
Mr. and Mrs. C. Neil, Mrs. Wells, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Grubb, and Miss Sarah 
Grubb. In 1878, the society was incorporated. The first board of officers were: G. 
H. Marshall, chairman; W. H. Atkinson, clerk and treasurer; and Samuel Grubb, 
J. P. Walker, and W. W. Kentnor, trustees. The old district school house served as 
a place of mesting, originally, but a church was erected in block number five, in the 
year 1878, costing $3,200, which is now occupied by the society. The present member- 
ship is about thirty. 

Ashland possesses several secular societies, the Masons, Odd Fellows, Order of 
the Eastern Star and Good Templars being the principal. Ashland Lodge, number 
45, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized July 23, 1873, with D. S. K. 
Buick, Morris Baum, William Taylor, Jacob Slagle, J. W. Cunningham and W. W. 
Kentnor, as charter members. The records having been burned, it is impossible to 
give any portionof the lodge's history. A fine building — Odd Fellows' Hall — has been 
constructed at a cost of $6,000, and this, with their paraphernalia, constitutes the 
lodge's property. The present officers are: N. G., W. W. Kentnor; V. G., W. C- 
Daley; recording secretary, H. C. Myer; P. S., F. M. Drake; treasurer, H. Inlow; 
warden, W. Baldwin; conductor, T. D. Fountain; I. G., L. A. Neil; L. S. N. G., J. 
W. Burris; R. S. V. G., J. B. Russell; L. S. V. G., J. P. Woodson; R. S. S., G. F. 
Pennebaker. 

Ashland Lodge, number 23, A. F. & A. Masons, was organized in June 1875, 
by the Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M., of Oregon. Charter members — W. H. Atkin- 
son, J. R. N. Bell, N. Conkling, P. Dunn, J. S. Ewbanks, H. C. Hill, A. S. Jacobs, 
C. S. Sergent, J. H. Skidmore, J. C. Tolman, Jacob Wagner, Justus Wells and Free- 
man Yandell. First Officers— H. C. Hill, W. M.; J. R. N. Bell, S. W.; P. Dunn, J. 
W. ; Jacob Wagner, treasurer, and W. H. Atkinson, secretary. Present officers — W. 
H. Atkinson, W. M. ; L. F. Willitts, S. W.; M. L. McCall, J. W. ; J. M. McCall, 
treasurer ; H. T. Chitwood, secretary ; H. Fox, tyler. The present membership is 



,* 



NU 





3/^UJ 




SWs 



'^va<n^ 



JACKSON COUNTY. :i. r ,7 

about fifty. The society possesses the well-known Masonic Hall in Ashland, built in 
1870, costing $7,600, to take the place of their former hall, destroyed by fire during 
the same year. 

Ashland Lodge, No. 453, Independent Order of Good Templars, was [organized 
November 9, 1883, by Deputy G. W. C. T. William Harris. The charter members 
numbered one hundred and forty-three. Officers — W. H. Leeds, W. C. T. ; Mrs. R. 
Alford, W. V. T.; H. C. Myer" P. W. C. T. ; W. A. Wilshire, secretary; Frank 
Howell, chaplain; Miss Delia Pennebaker, W. M. ; C. C. Walker, deputy marshal ; 
Fred Wagner, F. S.; Miss Hattie Thornton, W. T. ; Ida Beach, I. G.; J. D. Fountain, 
sentinel. Place of meeting, Odd Fellows' Hall ; property, necessary regalia and 
furniture. 

Alpha Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, was founded March 13, 1880, by authority 
of the grand chapter of the United States, and was the earliest established in Oregon. 
The present membership is seventy; the place of meeting, Masonic Hall. 

The Ancient Order of United Workmen have organized a branch known as 
Ashland Lodge No. 66, of whom W. J. Plvmale is D. G. M. W., the list of charter 
members including some of the best citizens of the place, Messrs. Leeds, Miller, Atkin- 
son, McKee, Willit, Burriss, Brown, Wilshire, Butler, Andrews, Patterson, Reeser, 
Tucker. Bish, Morris, Hill, Billings, Alnutt, Lamb, Martin and others belonging at 
various times, and assisting to maintain a society which derives its principal wealth 
from its reputation. 

Probably no town in Oregon has evinced such refined and elevated public senti- 
ment as Ashland. In the matter of temperance the population were once a unit in 
favor of prohibition of intoxicating fluids, and only of late have been compelled to 
tolerate the existence of saloons. The extraordinary number of members of the Good 
Templar union will testify to the prevailing feeling. In matters of education their 
sentiment has been equally commendable. Besides the common school and academy 
there was a public library, organized in December, 1879, under the name of the 
Ashland library and reading-room association, whereof J. M. McCall, M. Baum, W- 
H. Atkinson, W. A. Wilshire, James Thornton, H. C. Hill, J. P. Walker, H. T. 
Chitwood, W. H. Leeds, W. Nichols and others were members. They existed about 
two years, when the books and other property were transferred to the Masonic society 
for their use and benefit, and are now controlled by a committee from that body. 
There are about 200 volumes in the library, besides files of the more important literary 
publications of this country. 

The Ashland bank was incorporated February 9, 1884, with a capital stock of 
$50,000, divided into 500 shares of $100 each. The incorporators were J. M. McCall, 
W. H. Atkinson and H. B. Carter. 

The business of Ashland, always considerable, has increased largely of late, and 
the place wears a characteristic air of commercial enterprise and activity. There are 
four stores of general merchandise, two groceries, two hardware stores, two drugstores, 
one factory, one furniture store, three of millinery, two jewelry, one confectionery, 
and one dealer in second-hand articles. Total, nineteen business houses. Then there 
are the woolen mills, the flour mill, the planing mills, saw mill, two cabinet shops, two 
carpenter shops, one marble works, two blacksmith shops, three shoe shops, one wagon 



358 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

making and repair shop, gunsmith, three barber shops, two watch makers, one bakery, 
one meat market and two paint shojos, making a total of twenty-one establishments of 
the industrial order. There are four doctors, two dentists, and four lawyers. There is 
the common school., taught by four teachers, and the academy, taught by five. There 
are four real estate and a large number of fire and life insurance agencies, with others 
doing business in musical instruments, sewing machines, agricultural implements* 
wagons, etc., aggregating thirty-eight. There is a newspaper of excellent standing, 
the Tidings, published weekly by W. H. Leeds, editor and proprietor. Four hotels 
and restaurants, a bank, two photographic galleries, two notaries public, a livery stable, 
two laundries, a shooting gallery, and five saloons, make up the remainder of the active 
institutions of the town. The population of the town was, in 1854, twenty-five ; in 
1864, fifty ; in 1874, 300 ; and in 1884, approximately, 1,000. The present board of 
trustees consists of H. C. Hill, chairman ; M. L. McCall, Jacob Thompson, James 
Thornton, and J. W. Burriss. Recorder, A. V. Gillette (deceased February, 1884) ; 
Marshal, S. D. Taylor; Treasurer, C. K. Klum ; Street Commissioner, P. Littleton; 
Postmaster, A. P. Hammond. The aggregate amount of capital invested in the several 
departments of trade, with the value of necessary real estate, aggregates $332,600, as 
ascertained by a careful canvass. The aggregate of sales for the six months preceding 
February 12, 1883, was $134,714. The corresponding aggregate for the half year 
ending February 12, 1884, was $267,991 ; showing an increase of almost exactly one 
hundred per cent. 

Ashland has been visited in the past by several fires, more or less destructive, 
occurring as follows : In 1859, the post office, Keutnor's wagon shop, Hellman's cabi- 
net shop, etc., were burned — loss, $3,000. In the following year Foster's hotel was 
damaged to the extent of $1,000. In 1868, Gillette's cabinet shop and the post office 
were destroyed — loss, $2,000. In 1879, Miller's blacksmith shop, the post office, and 
many other buildings were burned — loss, $30,000. In 1881 and 1883 two small fires 
occurred, burning two blacksmith shops — loss, $4,000. 

Architecturally, Ashland is one of the finest of towns. Its situation is all that 
could be desired ; its buildings are really creditable ; its surroundings are beautiful ; 
and its social advantages are of a very high order. The upper end of Bear creek 
valley wherein the town is located, although contracted in area, is agriculturally im- 
portant, and lies on the direct route to California. The condition of the farms near 
by is very advanced. All the ordinary crops yield finely, and the ground is tolerably 
well cultivated. A few scientific and reasoning farmers and stock growers have located 
themselves in the vicinity, and their influence has been felt in the rapid improvement 
of agriculture. The farms are mainly devoted to wheat, oats, barley and corn, which 
yield good crops. The grasses — timothy, redtop, clover and alfalfa — grow wherever 
sufficient moisture can be had, the latter (introduced by W. C. Myer in 1860) doing 
excellently. The common vegetables and fruits (the latter including the apple, plum, 
peach, pear, prunes of several sorts, cherry, apricot, nectarine and grape), flourish well, 
sometimes extremely so. Berries and currants also do well, and are quite a resource. 



CHAPTEK XLIIL 



JACKSONVILLE. 

An Interesting Town— Its Foundation Growth— Social Progress — Buildings— Law and Order— Lynch Law — 
A Picture of Flush Times — Judicial Matters — Interesting Episodes — Caucus of Women — The Table Rock 
"Sentinel" — Other Newspapers — Subsequent Events. 

The county seat of Jackson county is the oldest town in Southern Oregon, and a 
point of the greatest historical interest. Moderate and unobtrusive, half crowning a 
low range of hills, half hidden in the edge of the valley, at its southwestern extremity ; 
people wonder why it was built in an apparently isolated situation, but the story is 
simple. In the early days the whisper of a marvelously rich gold discovery was heard ; 
it passed from mouth to mouth till it was told across the Siskiyous, in Northern Cali- 
fornia, and in the settlements of the Willamette. Soon the silent hills and gulches 
were touched as if by the wand of an enchanter, and whitened with the tents of thous- 
ands of eager hunters ; the luxuriant grass and wild flowers that had sheltered the 
timid deer and antelope, or had yielded only to the stealthy moccasin, were trampled 
into dust by the heavier feet of the stronger race; the lordly pines and oaks were 
stricken down ; the hills and gulches seamed and scarred by the miner's pick ; the town 
site itself burrowed and honey-combed with drifts and tunnels, and the oppressive 
silence of nature changed, in a few months, to a scene of restless activity. Time has 
healed the ugly scars ; nearly every trace of the ephemeral city is gone ; but the Jack- 
sonville of to-day, with its pleasant surroundings, thrift and culture, is the substantial 
outgrowth of the chaos and social fever engendered by an industrial avalanche, so 
common in the mining regions. 

Much of the history of Jacksonville is unwritten ; but, fortunately, many of those 
who dug its foundations, and reared its schools and churches, still survive, and upon 
the faithfulness of their memories must depend the accuracy of the records. It was in 
December, 1851, or January, 1852, that Rich gulch was struck, the first gold being 
taken out near the present crossing of Oregon street. Gold had been found somewhat 
earlier, on Jackson creek, nearly opposite the present City brewery, by two young 
men, who communicated the fact to James Cluggage and J. R. Poole, who were travel- 
ing through the valley. The result was the discovery of Rich gulch by Cluggage and 
Poole, who associated with them James Skinner and Wilson, who conjointly claimed 
four hundred feet of the gulch. It was not long until the secret of a " discovery," 
where men could wash out a pint cup of gold, daily, leaked out. In February, 1852, 
every foot of the gulch was staked out and claimed, and by March the surrounding 
hills and gulches were, in spite of the evident hostility of the Indians, filled with the 
rapidly swelling population, and soon the first discovery was the center of an extensive 



360 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

mining region. In February a trading post was opened in a tent by Appier & Kenny, 
packers from Yreka. It was by no means a bazaar, the stock comprising only a few 
tools and a little " torn iron," the roughest clothing and boots, and some " black strap " 
tobacco, and a liberal supply of whisky — not the royal nectar, perhaps, but, never- 
theless, the solace of the miner in heat or cold, in prosperity and in adversity. Other 
traders followed, bringing supplies of every kind, pitching their tents on the most 
available ground, and finding plenty of customers flush with treasure. In March the 
first log cabin was erected by W. W. Fowler, near the head of Main, the only street in 
the embryo city. Lumber was "whip-sawed" in the gulches, at the rate of $250 
per thousand, or purchased in small quantities from a saw mill up the valley ; clap- 
board houses, with real sawed doors and window-frames, began to rise among the tents; 
the little, busy town emerged from the chrysalis state, and before the end of summer 
assumed an air of solidity, and fairly entered on the second stage of its existence. 
During this time a marked change had taken place in the social structure of Jack- 
sonville. Gamblers, courtesans, sharpers of every kind, the class that struck prosper- 
ous mining camps like a blight, flocked to the new El Dorado. Saloons multiplied 
beyond necessity ; monte and faro games were in full blast, and the strains of music 
allured the " honest miner," and led his feet into many a dangerous place, where he 
and his treasure were soon parted. Notwithstanding the loose and reckless character 
of a large portion of the population, unrestrained by the refining influences of organized 
society, crime was remarkably rare. It is true there was no written law. The hastily 
prepared handful of territorial laws, borrowed from the Iowa code, generally relating 
to property rights, had hardly crystallized into shape, and were inoperative at so 
remote a point from the seat of territorial government, and where there was neither 
county organization nor judicial officers. But there was a law higher, stronger, more 
effective than written codes — the stern necessity of mutual protection — and a strong 
element had the courage and will to enforce it. Justice was administered by the people's 
court ; its findings were singularly correct, its decrees inflexible, its punishments certain. 
In 1852 the first court of this character was convened. A miner named Potts was 
shot dead, without provocation, by a gambler named Brown. Immediately every 
claim was vacated. Men, not angry, but outraged by the dastardly deed, gathered in 
hundreds, and the assassin was secured. That fine sense of chivalry and fairness, 
common, even on the frontier, prompted a proper investigation, and in the absence of 
even a justice of the peace, W. W. Fowler, now a resident of California, was appointed 
judge. A jury of twelve men was selected. The case was tried by the rules of right 
and wrong, divested of legal technicalities ; Brown was clearly proved guilty of a 
cowardly murder, and taken to an oak grove, a little north of the site of the Presby- 
terian church, hanged, and buried under a tree, a few yards west of where the church 
now stands, and the remains have never been removed. The court was quietly dis- 
solved, the judge disclaiming the right to exercise further jurisdiction, but the lesson 
was salutary and effective. 

This summer a partial survey of the town was made by Henry Klippel and 

Smith, who laid out Oregon and California streets. In the fall of 1852 the demand 
for provisions largely exceeded the supply, and when the exceptionally severe winter 
set in there was serious cause of alarm. Snow commenced falling heavily about the 




^ a * * 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be inserted at a future date. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 3G1 

middle of November until all trails were completely blocked, and ingress to the crowded 
camp rendered impossible. Flour at once rose to a dollar per pound and the supply 
was soon exhausted. Tobacco sold readily at a dollar per ounce, but salt was priceless. 
Several adventurous men crossed the Siskiyous on snow-shoes, returning with a small 
supply and realized a handsome profit. Fortunately beef was plenty, game was easily 
obtained and numbers of men subsisted for months entirely on meat, in many cases 
without salt, and suffered no serious consequences. In the spring of 1853 necessity 
compelled the creation of a judicial tribunal. Disputes regarding rights to water, to 
mining ground or other species of property were frequent, and adjustments by arbitra- 
tion had generally proved unsatisfactory. By common consent an immense mass meet- 
ing was held on Jackson creek and attended by citizens of the town and miners from 
Rich gulch. At this meeting a man named Rogers was appointed " alcalde " — after 
the Spanish style — and invested with unlimited jurisdiction. It was soon apparent, 
however, that Rogers was unworthy of public confidence and the fountain head of 
power was again drawn upon. A dispute arose between two miners, Sims and Sprenger, 
involving the joint ownership of a mining claim, in which Sims denied his partner's 
rights. An appeal was made to the alcaldi's court and Sims was sustained. The case 
rots one of pecnliar hardship ; Sims' partner had held the claim while Sims was absent 
in the Willamette valley, and during the winter had been unfortunate enough to have 
a leg broken. The wronged man now appealed to the people. He recited his griev- 
ances from camp to camp until the mining population was thoroughly aroused. There 
was a keen sense of justice among the frontiersmen, and a long established principle of 
their simple ethics demanded that a man should be the friend and champion of his 
partner, under all circumstances, instead of his oppressor. A rousing meeting was 
held, attended by over a thousand miners. The alcalde stubbornly stood by his decis- 
ion and the excitement became intense. Angry speeches were made and the officer was 
threatened with violence, when a miner proposed the election of a " superior" alcalde ; 
holding that the power that created one court was competent to create another. The 
idea struck the crowd as sound and a superior judge was determined on. There was 
but one man worthy of the honor, a high spirited, educated miner, a native of Connecti- 
cut, named U. S. Hayden ; and against his earnest protestations, he was unanimously 
proclaimed "chief justice." A bailiff was appointed, a jury empanelled and the case 
brought before His Honor on its merits. The appellant appeared by his attorneys, P. P. 
Prim who had exchanged Blackstone for the pick and shovel and by Daniel Kenny, 
who made up for lack of legal knowledge by a keen perception of frontier character 
and the soft spots of a miners' jury. Sims, the respondent, secured the services of 
Orange Jacobs, a young attorney from Michigan, recently arrived ; more familiar with 
written law than with the unwritten code of the mining regions. As might be expected, 
Sims' partner was reinstated in his right and the decision of the court and jury stood 
unquestioned. Two of the attorneys in this case — both still living — subsequently occu- 
pied high places on the bench, Prim having been for eighteen years circuit judge and 
for one term chief justice of Oregon ; and Jacobs having been for two terms chief justice 
of Washington territory, and twice a delegate to congress while the third, Kenny, 
and Alcalde Hayden have gone before the tribunal higher than all — from which 
there is no appeal ; the latter having been honored for twenty consecutive years by 



362 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

subordinate judicial station and when death removed the ermine from the shoulders of 
the worthy officer it was pure and stainless. 

The progress of Jacksonville in 1853, was marked by the accession of many 
respectable families. Hitherto, Mrs. Napoleon Evans, Mrs. Jane McCully and Mrs. 

Lawless, had made up the sum total of ladies' society. The emigration of this 

spring poured in a large number of settlers, many of whom occupied the rich lands of 
the adjacent valley while others located in the town. The improvement in society was 
more apparent than in the town itself. Many buildings were erected but they were 
neither ornate nor durable, being hastily constructed, and only to serve the necessities 
of the hour. Owing to the fact that all supplies were brought in on pack animals, not 
a single pane of glass was used in Jacksonville that year, but cotton drilling was a 
reasonably convenient substitute. One of the obstacles to the substantial improve- 
ment of the town was the uncertainty of title. Cluggage, one of the discoverers of the 
mines, had taken a donation claim covering the town site, but wisely disclaimed any 
intentiou of interfering with the vested rights of miners as he well knew that in a mining 
camp peaceable possession was a title that the government itself regarded as valid. 
Many of the citizens had occupied lots and built upon them prior to Cluggage's appli- 
cation. Others, confident that the framers of the donation law never contemplated the 
bestowal of town sites, chose their locations and built their homes with the full knowl- 
edge that Cluggage had applied for a patent. Between these two classes and the 
claimant there was continual distrust and bickering ; the uncertainty of the issue pre- 
vented substantial improvement and the subsequent success of Cluggage proved the 
greatest curse that could be inflicted on a struggling community. 

1853 was a year of troubles and excitement in the new town. A deadly war had 
been determined on by the Indians who were every day more emboldened by success : 
more eager for blood as each successive white life was taken. Several settlers in the 
outskirts of the valley had been picked off by straggling Indians. One afternoon in 
August the crack of a " Siwash" rifle was heard just in the eastern edge of town ; a 
riderless mule with a bloody saddle galloped madly along California street, and was 
recognized as that of a prominent citizen, Thomas Wills, who had been absent from 
town but for a few hours. Armed men went instantly to where the shot had been 
heard, and soon returned with the bleeding body of Mr. Wills, who had received a 
mortal wound, and survived only a few days. This audacious act angered and alarmed 
the townspeople, and among the families there was intense excitement, there being 
scarcely a bullet-proof habitation in town, which could be easily approached under 
cover from nearly every direction. To make matters worse, arms were by no means 
plenty, and there is little doubt that had an attack been made in force, and the sav- 
ages been willing to risk their skins, they might have captured and destroyed the little 
town. The people, aroused to a sense of danger, effected a partial organization for 
defense. Pickets were thrown out nightly, and the greatest vigilance was exercised by 
day, but notwithstanding all precautions only a few days elapsed until a man named 
Nolan was shot dead within rifle range of the business street. This species of warfare 
was exasperating, and it was but a few days before the Indian method of reprisal was 
resorted to. Two Indian boys, " Little Jim" and another, mere striplings, came into 
town, perhaps from motives of curiosity, possibly as spies. It was scarcely probable 



JACKSON COUNTY. 3G3 

that they were the miscreants who lay in wait at the very threshold of the town to 
slay unoffending whites ; there was not the slightest evidence that they had committed 
any crime — they were too young to be warriors — but in the bitter anger of the moment 
it was sufficient that they were Indians. They were soon seized by an excited crowd 
who scarcely knew what to do with the terror-stricken prisoners, and some of the 
roughest shrank from the commission of an act that they knew w T as not brave, and 
that they feared was hardly just, The mob swayed and surged, wavering between 
desire and doubt, when T. McF. Patton sprang upon a wagon and in a few words 
decided the question. The boys were hanged on an oak on the bank of Jackson creek, 
while protesting piteously that they had never wrouged the whites. Sober reflection 
brought regret for an act that by no means exalted the white character, and it is 
very probable that the dreadful savagery subsequently experienced by white families 
^vas in retaliation for a deed that, in calmer moments, was regretted as neither cour- 
ageous nor justifiable. 

This was the last session of the people's court in Jackson county, for on Sep- 
tember 5, 1853, a regular court was held in Jacksonville, by Hon. Matthew P. 
Deady, who had just been appointed United States district judge for the Territory of 
Oregon, by President Pierce, and it is almost needless to say that his honor presided 
with distinguished ability. The officers of the court were, L. F. Grover (subsequently 
governor of Oregon and senator in congress), United States district attorney pro tern.', 
Columbus Sims, territorial prosecuting attorney ; Joseph W. Drew, deputy marshal ; 
Matthew G. Kennedy, sheriff. 

The first case tried was R. Hereford vs. David M. Thorpe — in assumpsit ; and 
the court adjourned on September ninth. The extension of the territorial juris- 
diction over Jackson county was exceedingly satisfactory to the people, for it sur- 
rounded them with the decent forms of law, to which they had been accustomed 
elsewhere, and relieved them of a great responsibility. The crude judicial system 
born of pioneer necessity now passed away, but it can be safely said that it w T as stained 
with few errors, though sometimes swayed by passion ; and, simple as it was, it 
afforded ample protection to the community. During the spring of this year a large 
religious element arrived with the immigration, mostly from the western and middle 
states, and steps were taken to found a Methodist church. The most active workers w r ere 
Rev. Joseph S. Smith, afterwards representative in congress from Oregon, who had 
been assigned to Jacksonville as pastor, his wife and the Misses Overbeck and Royal, the 
two latter going from camp to camp and soliciting money from the miners for the church. 
Times were flush and there were few financial difficulties, as the gamblers and 
sporting men, with proverbial liberality, provided a large portion of the means, and 
the edifice was soon under way. Possibly, the sporting fraternity, to use their ow T n 
phrase, were "hedging" against bad fortune in the world to come. The church was not 
finished that year, but it was removed to the spot where it now stands, finished by T. 
F. Royal, and used as a joint place of worship by Methodists and Presbyterians for 
over tw r enty-five years. In May, of this year, communication was opened up by Cram, 
Rogers & Co., of Yreka, a branch of the express house of Adams & Co., of San Fran- 
cisco. C. C. Beekman, still a prosperous and honored citizen of Jacksonville, w r as reg- 
ularly dispatched as messenger, extending his trips over the lonely mountains to Cres- 



364 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

cent City, carrying letters and papers, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold 
dust. It looks strange that, during all the troublous times, the plucky messenger was 
never molested, although travelling generally alone, and always choosing the night to 
cross the Siskiyous. On August 27, the first child was born in Jacksonville — a son to 
Doctor and Mrs. McCully — and every miner and trader in the neighborhood consid- 
ered himself a godfather to the newcomer, and made it his especial business to spoil the 
graceless little scamp, and teach him lessons that required years of Sunday school 
attendance to eradicate, and the boy's name is James Cluggage McCully, in honor of 
the founder of the town. This was a year of the greatest prosperity. Exceedingly rich 
ground had been struck, not only on the main creek, but on both its branches. Large 
stocks of merchandise had been packed on mules from Crescent City, the nearest sea- 
port and distant one hundred and twenty miles. A hasty 23eace had been patched up 
with the Indians, and the miners, allowed to work without molestation, poured large 
quantities of treasure into the town, which was now the distributing point for a large 
territory. On Saturdays and Sundays the streets were crowded with buyers and sellers, 
Mexican packers, red-shirted miners, ranchmen, and an occasional "siwash" who moved 
sullenly among the motley throng, with ill-concealed hatred of the strangers, who were 
pushing him from his hunting grounds. Night, however, was the season of gaiety and 
enjoyment. The miner was always prodigal of his dust, probably always will be, and 
the Jacksonville miner was no exception. Gaming and drinking were little disgrace, 
if the one was successful, or the other not pushed to the verge of debauchery, and it is 
often remarked by early settlers that there never was a mining camp where personal 
liberty was less restrained, better enjoyed or less abused than in the Jacksonville of 
'53. This year a kiln of brick was burned for the store of Morford & Davis, and its 
walls were well advanced before the close of the season. Marl from the "desert" 
beyond Bear creek was used instead of lime, while, strangely enough, there was a splen- 
did ledge of the finest limestone within ten miles of town, and daily passed over by 
scores of miners. The building, the first brick in the town, was finished in the 
next spring, by Maury & Davis, and stood among the best preserved buildings in 
Jacksonville, until burned in 1873, and replaced by the present town hall. During 
the pinching want of the winter of this year there were many sharp and decided con- 
trasts. Generally, the small store of flour was fairly divided till it was exhausted, but 
occasionally it was hidden with an almost pardonable selfishness by some one who was 
more lucky than generous. One evening when flour had become so scarce that it was 
no longer talked of, Henry Klippel and John Hill man were passing through a back 
lot on their way home, when Klippel stopped suddenly and said, "John, I smell bread." 
"So do I," said Hillman; "let's prospect." In a few moments they found two delicious 
loaves, set out to cool, in the rear of premises occupied by a trader named Sam. Gold- 
stein. The temptation was great, but, with proper generosity, they divided with the 
owner and took but one loaf. The next morning the two gentlemen visited the trader, 
priced clothing and boots till his patience flagged, and at last ventured to touch on the 
subject of breadstuff's. "Ah, ha!" exclaimed the merchant; "I smells somedings; you 
ish de rascals dot stole mine loaf!" "We are," replied Klippel, with the air of a man 
who had the situation in hand; "and we just propose to have you divide flour as we 
divided bread with you last night, so, shell it out." Approaching the boys with 



JACKSON COUNTY. 365 

uplifted hands, and a countenance beaming with truth, Samuel, in a voice husky with 
emotion, assured them, "so help him Abraham," that it took the last spoonful of flour 
in the house to make that loaf, and, burying his face in his hands, he wept at his utter 
destitution. The boys departed in silence, deeply touched, but subsequent information 
as to the state of Sam's larder, caused a life-long regret that they had not taken the 
other loaf. During the winter of this memorable year, salt was the precious article, 
but neighbors kindly divided with each other — a pinch at a time — and even after the 
lapse of thirty years, old pioneers in the country bring little presents to acquaintances 
in town, always refusing pay, with the remark, "Could I take anything from a friend 
who divided salt with me in "53?" 

At the close of 1853 Jacksonville was in a prosperous condition. It was now the 
center of trade and the distributing point for a large area of rich agricultural land, as 
well as an extensive mining region. Those carrying the heaviest stocks at the begin- 
ning of 1854 were Maury & Davis, Appier & Kenny, Birdsye & Etliuger, Sam Gold- 
stein, John Anderson, J. Bruner, Wells & Friedlander, Fowler & Davis, and Little & 
Westgate ; the latter being also the proprietors of a flourishing saloon and bowling 
alley. A number of smaller establishments were kept by Joseph Holman and others, 
who have almost passed from memory. A commodious hotel — the Robinson House, 
on the site of the present United States Hotel — was owned and conducted by Dr. Jesse 
Robinson, while a private boarding house, patronized by the elite, was managed by 
Mrs. Gass, afterwards Mrs. W. W. Fowler. The Arkansas stable, yet standing, a 
mouldering relic of the past, was run by Joe Davis, and was a flourishing institution. 
Dr. McCully was proprietor of a bakery, and Hazeltine and Gilson were in the same 
business. Pyle & McDonough carried on a successful carpenter shop, and quite an 
extensive furniture shop was run by James S. Burpee. Zigler & Martin, Cozart & 
Ralls, and Thomas Hopwood did the blacksmithing, and the latter is credited with 
having made the first plow manufactured in Rogue river valley. The winter of 1853-4 
was exceptionally cold and dry, diminishing the water supply and checking the yield 
of gold from the mines ; but most of the miners were flush and enjoyed the idle months 
in gaiety or in dissipation, adding largely to the fast growing town. Society began to 
crystallize into shape, and caste slowly asserted the right to draw social lines. The 
gentler sex, increasing in numbers, began to refine the community, and draw, as a 
magnet attracts to itself r the better portion of society from the rougher mass, and dic- 
tated greater conventionalism in dress and manners. The rough, unkempt, blue- 
shirted miner, or greasy packer, could hardly cope in ladies' society with the young 
bloods, attired in "boiled shirts" and white vests, and those who desired the en tree 
among the creme de la creme of Jacksonville society were soon provided with broad- 
cloth and fine linen, and their wardrobes were always at the service of friends, during 
the owner's absence. With the increase of families came a necessity for a school, and 
early in the winter one was organized by Miss Royal. The attendance was small, and 
the studies did not run high in the educational scale ; but, nevertheless, it gratified the 
pride of the friends of education, and many a miner shook an ounce from his purse 
into the hand of the enterprising teacher, when she visited the claims soliciting contri- 
butions for the support of the little school, that through many struggles, and some 
subsequent opposition, has grown to be one of the best in the state. As population 



366 SOUTHERN OREGON 

increased, and the means of civilization were nearer, there seemed to be no progress in 
public morality. A regular court, with all the necessary legal machinery, had been 
organized under the territorial laws; but it failed to awe evil-doers, or to suppress 
outlawry, as effectually as the more primitive mode of the pioneers that preceded it. 
An examination of the court records for 1854 shows an alarming increase of crime, 
from murder and rape, to larceny. The civil docket is burdened with every species 
of litigation, and it may have been that increased facilities for wrangling made men 
more captious and less inclined to observe their obligations, and gave assurance to 
criminals. But whether or not this view is correct, the fact remains that the record 
is extremely discreditable. On the sixth day of February a new judge called court. 
The enemies of Judge Deady had been busy at Washington, it is said, and by the 
most gross misrepresentation procured his displacement, the executive appointing O. 
B. McFadden, a citizen of Pensylvania, to the territorial bench. Court was held in a 
building next to the " New State " saloon, and it was a most unpretentious temple of 
justice. The bench was a dry-goods box, covered with a blue blanket, and it is quite 
probable that the uncomfortable seat occupied by the judge was so irksome, that it had 
something to do with his rapid dispensation of justice. The officers of the court were 
Columbus Sims, prosecuting attorney ; G. Kennedy, sheriff; and Lycurgus Jackson, 
clerk. On the first day of court, Payne P. Prim and D. B. Brenan were admitted to 
the bar, and the grand jury was empaneled. On the seventh, true bills were returned 
against Indians George and Tom, charging them with the murder of James C. Kyle, 
on 1853 ; October 7, on the same day they were arraigned and put upon trial, Prim 
and Brenan having been appointed counsel for the accused. The proceedings were 
brief, the evidence, mostly that of Indians, who were anxious to preserve peace with 
the whites, left no doubt as to the guilt of the prisoners, and the jury, with little 
deliberation, announced a verdict of guilty. In the meantime the grand jury had 
found another indictment against Indian Thompson, for the murder of Edwards, in the 
spring of 1853, and he, too, was quickly convicted. On the ninth, it appears from the 
record, Indian George was sentenced to be " hanged by the neck until dead," the time 
of execution being fixed between the hours of ten and twelve of the succeeding day ; 
but it does not appear that the other two convicted murderers were ever sentenced ; 
and the impression is left that time was so valuable that, in their cases, the formality 
was dispensed with. In passing sentence upon George, his honor assured the prisoner, 
with becoming gravity, that he had had as fair a trial, and as ample means of defense, 
as if he had belonged to the white race ; but the lightning speed with which the judge 
hurried the doomed wretch out of the world throws a slight cloud on the sincerity of 
his remarks. Indeed, it can not be fairly doubted that if the murderer had been a 
white, he would have been granted thirty days for repentance ; but his honor probably 
concluded that the Indian had no soul, and repentance was therefore improbable, 
although he closed by requesting God to have mercy on the spiritual portion of the 
culprit. Though the record is silent as to the other two convicted murderers, all three 
were swung from the same gallows on the tenth of the same month. Large numbers 
of people came from the mining camps, and a few, whom the news had reached out in 
the valley, came into town to witness the first legal execution ; but the event was 
marked with decorum, and nine out often acquiesced in the justice of the punishment. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 3(57 

This was the last court held in Jacksonville by Judge McFaddeu. -Judge Deady's 
friends had righted matters at Washington and procured his re-instatement, McFadden 
being transferred to Washington territory. 

On May 1, 1854, Judge Deady convened court, with Drew as marshal ; Kennedy, 
sheriff"; R. E. Stratton, United States prosecuting attorney; Stephen F. Chadwick 
(subsequently secretary of state and ex-officio governor of Oregon), as territorial prose- 
cuting attorney pro tern. ; and Jackson, clerk. Little of public interest transpired at 
this term, except some futile presentments against several murderers who could not be 
reached, the docket being mostly burdened with civil cases that seemed to multiply 
from term to term. This year the Methodist church building was completed, by Pyle 
& McDonough and David Linn. The frame had been removed to the present site, 
which had been deeded gratuitously by James Cluggage to the conference. A new 
subscription list was opened by Rev. T. F. Royal, successor to Rev. Joseph Smith, and 
early in the fall the building was formally dedicated to the worship of God, by Rev. 
J. H. Wilbur, presiding elder of the Umpqua district. While Protestant churches and 
schools were being organized, it would have been strange, indeed, if so promising a 
field had been overlooked by the Roman Catholic arch-bishop of Oregon. That zeal, 
springing from the unswerving faith of the priesthood and children of the old church, 
that fears neither the rigor of the Arctic winter, nor the deadly fevers of the torrid 
zoue, has already manifested itself here. No matter how small in numbers a Catholic 
community may be, they are not long suffered to want for spiritual sustenance, and in 
September, 1853, Rev. James Croke, a missionary of the arch-diocese of Oregon, 
visited Jacksonville and celebrated the first mass in the house of Charles Casey. Look- 
ing forward to tlie permanent establishment of a church — to be delayed, however, 
several years — the reverend father obtained by deed of gift from James Cluggage 
four of the most desirable lots in the town. A mission of several weeks, spent in 
administering to the spiritual wants of his people, disclosed a strong, steadfast and 
faithful Catholic society, and a third mission, in 1855, by Rev. James Cody, of Yreka, 
found it increasing in fidelity and numbers by virtue of the salutary admonitions and 
counsel of the visiting fathers. 

The second brick building erected in the town, a very substantial structure, 
still standing on the corner of Main and Oregon streets, was finished in the fall of 
1854 for Bruner Brothers, and a large number of dwellings were added to the fast 
growing town. On March 15, 1855, Warren Lodge, No. 10, A. F. &. A. M., was organ- 
ized under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the territory. The lodge was weak 
in numbers, but has grown to a membership of eighty-five, culled and sifted from 
among the best material in the community. The first officers of the lodge were T. 
McF. Patton, W. M. ; Patrick Dunn, S. W.; A. M. Berry, J. W. ; A. B. Carter, Treas- 
urer; S. H. Taylor, Secretary ; Lewis Graf, S. D. ; Jacob Solomon, J. D. ; J. S. Burpee, 
tyler. 

The serious and bloody war that bad Indians and worse whites precipitated on the 
settlements of Rogue river valley this year did not retard permanently the material 
progress and prosperity of Jacksonville, nor did it diminish its population in any per- 
ceptible degree. Many of the single men, "the boys," in the old time vernacular, and 
many also who were heads of families, not caring for the causes of the conflict, 



368 SOUTHERN OREGON 

shouldered their rifles in defense of their neighbors, abandoning profitable pursuits, 
many of them to catch Indian bullets, and by bravery and determination pushed the 
savages to unconditional peace. While they were in the field their places were filled 
by panic-stricken settlers, who flocked to the towns for safety, and whose presence was 
rather advantageous than otherwise. The community, especially the female portion, 
were in a state of continual dread, fearing a night attack by the Indians, but the vol- 
unteers were keeping the savages so busy in the field that no extra precaution against 
surprise was thought necessary. This apparent neglect aroused much comment among 
the women, and at last the excitement among them reached fever heat and forced them 
into a ridiculous position. A timid old man named Holman, with more imagination 
than courage, averred that he saw an Indian skulking through the brush at the out- 
skirts of town, but among the men his story was generally discredited. Playing on 
the fears of the weaker sex, the old man induced them to call an indignation meeting 
in the Methodist church, in order to arouse the men to the necessity of greater vigi- 
lance. A chairwoman and secretary were elected, but before the meeting proceeded 
to business, the men, to whom they looked for protection, were invited to step outside, 
and informed that the meeting was strictly a woman's one. Poor old Holman was 
hustled out with the rest, and this somewhat unkind treatment of the stronger sex 
was received by them with cheers and laughter and not taken seriously to heart. 
Meanwhile the ladies held a boisterous secret session. Resolutions denouncing apathy 
and lack of vigilance were passed, and the meeting adjourned with a general feeling 
that a well merited rebuke had been administered. That night some wags, lacking in 
due respect for the ladies, hoisted a petticoat at half-mast on the flag pole in front of 
the express office. The exposure of this piece of feminine apparel in so conspicuous 
a way was like flaunting a red flag in the face of a Spanish bull. It was not the red 
encasement of the famous scold, Zantippe, but a modest looking garment, possibly 
intended as a flag of truce ; but the act was misinterpreted as a declaration of war, and 
it was met with the spirit of incensed and outraged femininity. Knots of angry women 
gathered and discussed the situation, and two, whose ire knew no bounds, marched to 
the foot of the pole, armed with Allen " pepper boxes" — a fire-arm most dangerous to 
the holder — one with an ax, and fully determined to haul down the obnoxious garment. 
Men gathered round them, some in bad temper, and a word or blow might have created 
a bloody riot. One of the women demanded that the men haul down their colors, for- 
getting that a petticoat is an oriflamme that always arouses man's chivalry. There 
was no response. Again the demand was made, and a vigorous blow from her ax made 
the pole quiver. At this juncture Dr. Brooks stepped forward and agreed to haul 
down the hateful bit of apparel, and the women marched off in triumph, firing their 
little guns in the air, totally regardless of the feelings of the poor men whom they had 
forced to an inglorious surrender. The end of the war was not reached, however, for 
the next morning an immense pine tree on the bank of Daisy creek was adorned with 
a male and a female effigy, the latter in. a gorgeous silk dress, and occupying a sub- 
ordinate position in mid air, taken to be indicative of man's superiority. This was a 
master stroke of agressive strategy. There was no woman strong enough to chop the 
tree down, none bold enough to climb it, and no woodman could be found who dared 
bury his ax in the sacred trunk. The storms came, the winter winds whistled and 



•s ■vv"..-^ ; ■•' :■■■/& $.. C-71 




r- ?;::*■ -5-- ,' 
> ■ ^ r. 


.-si - : i! ■ 


en * *, - f 'm'- 
era !*-;. ft & "->' 

\ I ■ - 



^8* 




JACKSON COUNTY. 300 

moaned through the leaves of the pine and still the effigies swung and swayed to and 
Pro, as evidence that the weaker sex was fairly out-generaled. 

The most conspicuous mark of progress this year [1S55] was the establishment of 
the Table Bock Sentinel, by Messrs. T'Yault, Taylor and Blakely. True, the dimin- 
utive sheet did not require a double cylinder lightning press, but it was the first news- 
paper in Southern Oregon, and as a reflex of public opinion and a record of current 
events it soon exerted considerable influence. The initial number appeared on Novem- 
ber 24, 1855, and the few quarts of type that spread disjointed, yet most acceptable 
news from the " States," and from the Willamette settlements have been replaced many 
times by new fonts. The first number asserted itself as "Independent on all subjects 
and devoted to the best interests of Southern Oregon," but subsequent issues developed 
a tendency towards the dissemination of unqualified democracy and the bitterest hatred 
of any thing inimical to the interests of that communion. Its editor, W. G. T'Vault, 
was a man of ability and force of character, compensating for lack of culture by force 
of will, uncompromising in his animosities, but fair to his friends, and the copies of his 
little sheet on file show a very fair record of the times, if not always a temperate dis- 
cussion of public questions, or the characters of public men. The venture of the 
partners was unprofitable, and Mr. T'Vault subsequently became sole owner of the 
paper, until 1858 when he associated W. J. Robinson with him, and the name was 
changed to the Oregon Sentinel, which has been ever since retained. In October, 1859, 
the Sentinel passed into the hands of O'Meara and Freanor, the latter retiring in less 
than a year and the senior jDartner abandoning it in May, 1861. Under their manage- 
ment the political sentiments of the paper were intensely democratic, and at times so 
radical that citizens loyal to the Union refused it patronage, and its financial affairs 
became quite unsatisfactory both to its proprietor and its creditors. At this conjuncture 
Henry Denlinger and Wm. M. Hand, both practical printers, took it, Hand retiring in 
less than a year to enter the U. S. volunteer service, leaving Mr. Denlinger sole owner. 
Mr. D. only retained it until July, 1864, when it passed into the hands of B. F. Dowell. 
During the management of Denlinger the Sentinel Avas an uncompromising Union 
paper. Its editor was Orange Jacobs, afterwards chief justice of Washington territory, 
and its editorials were marked with dignity and strength, always sustaining the govern- 
ment. The proprietorship of Mr. Dowell continued for more than fourteen years, during 
which time it was under the editorial management of J. M. Sutton, D. M. C. Gault, 
Wm. M. Turner, E. B. Watson, Harrison Kelley and Ed. F. Lewis, avIio at various 
periods conducted it and always in the interest of the Republican party. It seems that 
the Sentinel, although fairly supported and patronized, was never a profitable invest- 
ment, and in 1878, Frank Krause became its proprietor, afterwards associating Mr. 
Turner with him, who retained his interest about two years and then left Mr. K. sole 
owner. It is usual to expect a community with the ability to support one newspaper to 
be able to support two, and in 1857, Messrs. Beggs and Burns started the Jacksonville 
Herald which was short-lived and its plant experienced more changes of ownership 
than did the Sentinel. In 1861 O'Meara and Pomeroy took the outfit of the Herald 
and started the Southern Oregon Gazette, the first number appearing on August 14. The 
Gazette was intensely democratic ; indeed, so bitter and shamelessly disloyal to the 
o-overnment that in a few months it was refused the privilege of the U. S. mails and 

48 



370 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

died a violent death, mourned by only a few to whom its ultra views were tasteful. 
On the ruins of the Gazette the Civilian was built by D. Wm. Douthitt, in May, 1862. 
The politics of this paper were also democratic, but of a milder type than its prede- 
cessor, but sufficiently intense to make it unpopular. Its proprietor also lacked popu- 
larity and discernment as a journalist, and his venture died a quiet death after a 
troubled existence of a few months. In 1863 T' Vault took possession of the Civilian 
office and under his management the Intelligencer was ushered into the world, but there 
seemed a cruel fatality in the type, for it, too, expired in less than a twelvemonth. 
Then P. J. Malone threw himself into the breach and in January, 1865, the Oregon 
Reporter arose from the cold remains of the Intelligencer, and with the end of 
volume one Malone retired, having had no better success than those who preceded him. 
Frank R. Stuart succeeded Malone in the Reporter until 1867, when Mr. W. W.Fidler, 
a young man of good ability and honest purpose, was associated with him and the name 
was changed to the Southern Oregon Press. But a few months passed before the Press 
collapsed, and the material was used by the democratic committee in the publication of 
the Reveille, hut auspicious as the name was, it failed to bring to the paper the neces- 
sary support. The voluntary contribution system was a failure and the "bleeding" 
process tried on candidates for office was too depleting, voted a nuisance, and the 
Reveille soon ceased to sound the rallying blast. On its ruins arose the Democratic 
News, in 1869, published and edited by P. D. Hull and Chas. Nickell. Just when the 
success of the News seemed assured its material was destroyed in the disastrous fire of 
'72. Its founders, however, were plucky, both practical printers, the democracy were 
in power in the county and their patronage warranted an effort to re-establish the 
paper. Means were soon raised, a new outfit procured and the Democratic Times was 
started by Nickell. Good management and county patronage brought it prosperity 
and it is likely to live as long a life as that of all its predecessors put together. 

In the summer of 1860 the wagon road from Waldo, in Josephine county, to Cres- 
cent City, Cal., was opened for travel, and prices in Jacksonville were materially 
reduced, owing to the greater facilities for transportation. A new era now dawned on 
the thriving community ; no longer the gay and tinsel trappings and the broad "sombrero" 
of the semi-civilized Mexican j)acker were seen on the streets. No more his sonorous 
voice was heard cursing or cheering his heavy-laden mules ; he slid from sight and 
passed away as something decidedly un- American. It was the old giving way to the 
new, as it is ever doing in this restless, ever changing world of ours, and the long trains 
of patient beasts of burden that had, for ten long years, packed supplies over slippery 
and tortuous paths were displaced by the ponderous freight wagons that in turn were 
to yield to the grander achievements of progress and advancing civilization. The 
"greasy packer " no longer came whooping into town with his independent "devil may 
care " swagger, but either adopted the more genteel and luxurious calling of a team- 
ster or was quietly absorbed in other pursuits and so lost to sight. A semi-weekly line 
of stages to Crescent City was at once put on by Cluggage and Drum, and a steady 
flow of travel set in which was of great material benefit. The mode of transportation 
proved very convenient. Merchandise that could not be packed on mules was now 
transported with ease, and an immense annual saving made in freights, and for a num- 
ber of years the new and shorter means of ingress and egress was quite popular. This 



JACKSON COUNTY. 371 

year an equally important avenue of travel was opened. The California stage company 
had obtained a contract for carrying the U. S. mails from Sacramento to Portland and 
on the first of July, put on a daily line of comfortable four-horse stages between those 
points, passing through Jacksonville. The schedule time between Sacramento and Port- 
land was thirteen days, but their vehicles were generally crowded and many a weary 
passenger was glad to try the hospitality of Jacksonville's hotels, poor as they were 

The history of the Catholic church in Jacksonville is that of an active, untiring, 
zealous religious organization. Those faithful to the Roman Catholic belief had been 
visited regularly by missionaries every year since the first visit of Rev. Father Croke, 
in 1853. His Grace, Archbishop Blanchet, of Oregon City, had himself come over 
the rough mountains to administer to the spiritual wants of an isolated people, and in 
October, 1858, the occasion of his first visit, a contract was closed with Berry & Kerr 
for the erection of a church on the lot donated by James Cluggage. In 1859, the edi- 
fice was nearly finished, and in 1860, services were held in it by His Grace, the Arch- 
bishop, who then visited Jacksonville for the second and last time. In November, 
1801, Rev. J. F. Fierens was appointed first parish priest for Southern Oregon, having 
his residence at Jacksonville. On the nineteenth of November, 1863, Rev. F. X. 
Blanchet, nephew of the archbishop, was appointed second pastor of St. Joseph's 
church, Father Fierens having been made vicar-general of the diocese. Father 
Blanchet still continues an acceptable ministry, and during the many years of his ser- 
vice has largely augmented and firmly consolidated his congregation. The influence 
of this religious organization was soon increased by the establishment of St. Mary's 
academy by the Catholic sisterhood, and its conduct has been without stain or blemish. 
During the dreadful pestilence that raged in 1868-9, the priests and ladies of St. 
Mary's were brave and untiring in their ministrations among the sick and dying — 
Catholic and non-Catholic alike — and did much to break down the prejudices of those 
who differed from them. "St. Joseph's" is now too small for its congregation, but is 
still the most imposing edifice belonging to the Roman Catholics of Southern Oregon. 

The public school of Jacksonville is one of the most flourishing in the state, 
advancing from a mere infant school to one with over two hundred pupils, in which all 
the education necessary for an active business life may be acquired ; but it has not been 
without its struggles. In 1867, it was found that the school accomodations were 
wholly inadequate to the wants of the district, and a movement was made to purchase 
a suitable lot on which "to erect a building sufficiently large to accomodate the fast- 
increasing scholars. The movement met with bitter opposition from citizens whose 
own education was deficient, but who, through good fortune, had taxable property, and 
they stoutly resisted an extraordinary drain on their purses. The friends of progress 
won and the beautiful knoll just east of town on which the Poole residence was situated was 
purchased. A tax for the building was next levied, and the opponents of the measure had 
become so demoralized that scarcely a dissenting vote was cast. For several years the 
affairs of the school were in a most unsatisfactory state. Unfortunately, partisan poli- 
tics divided men on almost every issue, and they, almost imperceptibly, crept into 
school matters, and greatly impeded the efforts of those who sought to build up a first- 
class school. Time and experience pointed out this profitless folly; efficiency, rather 
than political leaning, was exacted by a community willing to pay high for teachers' 



372 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

services, and results have proved the wisdom of such a course. To-day, Jacksonville 
cheerfully votes whatever tax is asked by its school directors, and boasts a school second 
to none of its class in the whole state, and noted for its wholesome discipline and schol- 
arship wherever its fortunate pupils cast their lot. Four teachers are now employed, 
and the annual expenses of the school are nearly five thousand dollars 

Late in the fall of 1868, a case of what was pronounced "chicken-pox" by the 
physicians, was discovered among some half-breed Indians near town. There was 
no alarm until it was found to be small-pox of the confluent and most malignant type. 
Then, efforts were made to repair the error of the physicians, but it was, unfortunately, 
too late. The first patient died, but the attendants had mixed promiscuously among 
the people of the town, and the seeds of the terrible disease were effectually planted. 
A death soon occurred in town, and the burial, although taking place at night, was con- 
ducted so blunderingly that several other cases appeared in the immediate neighbor- 
hood. The town was at once quarantined, and people from the country forbidden to 
communicate with it, in order to prevent the spread of the disease. School, religious 
gatherings and all other public assemblages were discontinued. A pest-house was 
established south of town, to which nearly all patients were removed and who received 
every possible attention and care. Notwithstanding the most rigorous quarantine, the 
disease was taken to the country, where two deaths occurred, but, fortunately, it was 
confined to one locality, only. In spite of all precautions, the disease spread rapidly > 
and those who had been vaccinated seemed terror-stricken. Ministers fled in affright 
from paths of duty, but in the darkest hours the Catholic priest, who himself had experi- 
enced the disease, together with the Catholic sisterhood, rendered valuable assistance. 
The contagion was not confined to any particular class. The widow of John Love, a 
lady of refinement and culture, was attacked and, with her youngest child, was carried 
away. Her mother and the rest of her children were in the country and dared not 
approach her, and, when all was over, the unsightly corpse — all that remained of human 
beauty — was borne to the cemetery in a rough lumber- wagon, without a single follower. 
Col. T' Vault, who had filled a prominent place in the history of Southern Oregon, was 
buried at midnight by the priest who attended his dying moments, and the nearest 
friends of the old man did not dare to join the silent and ghastly cortege. George 
Funk, one of the leading citizens of the town and a man of fine social qualities, died 
in a lonely cabin south of town, cared for by the Odd Fellows, and was buried in its 
vicinity until time justified his removal. There was a theory prevalent that the creation 
of smoke would purify the air and mitigate, or perhaps stay, the pestilence. Large 
fires of pitch-pine were built in the streets, around which gathered anxious groups by 
day and by night, waiting to hear who the next victim would be, and discussing the 
situation. This hygienic measure was fruitless; the clouds of smoke that clung to the 
hapless town by day, and the ruddy glare that lit up its deserted streets by night, only 
added gloom and brought neither hope nor relief. For over two months this state of 
things existed, and gradually the disease wore out the material that was most suscepti- 
ble of attack, and finally disappeared. Some of the patients recovered, notably those 
who had been vaccinated; but the number of deaths exceeded forty, which, in a small 
community, left a perceptible vacuum. 






SssS 



IBll 

lilil 




: ; 



JACKSON COUNTY. 373 

In the ensuing summer (18G9) the town had a novel experience. One afternoon 
in July, a cloud, not much larger than a man's hand, hung above the western horizon. 
It attracted little notice, but expanded gradually until it was apparent that some extra- 
ordinary disturbance was imminent. Suddenly the cloud burst, about a mile and 
a-half west of town, and an immense volume of water was precipitated into Jackson 
and Daisy creeks. In a few moments, those streams, comparatively dry at that season , 
were swollen into dangerous and impassable torrents. Mining apparatus and stumps 
were torn up and swept down stream like reeds, cattle were borne down on the resist- 
less flood, and the streets of the town could have floated a canoe. Previous to the cloud- 
burst, the air had been unusually quiet, but the rush of air to fill up the vacuum 
amounted to a genuine hurricane. Fortunately, its greatest force was spent a short 
distance south of town, where the standing pines were mown off about thirty feet above 
the ground and left standing like gigantic stubble — a memento of the awful force of 
the elements. An immense amount of drift from the mines was washed down Jackson 
creek, destroying and marring several comfortable homes, and leaving traces of devas- 
tation that may last for a generation to come. Strangely enough, the storm and its 
effects were confined within a narrow limit of little over a quarter of a mile in width, 
and were scarcely felt beyond the corporation. Jacksonville survived pestilence and 
flood, but another calamity was in store for it. In the spring of 1873, a fire broke 
out in the Union hotel, owned by Louis Home, and within an hour seventy-five thou- 
sand dollars worth of property was destroyed. The recuperative pow r er of Jacksonville 
enterprise soon rebuilt the vacant ground with more sightly buildings, and what was a 
severe private loss was a public gain. The succeeding year another disastrous confla- 
gration took place on the main business block and extended to the El Dorado corner, 
wiping out many of the ancient landmarks. Again, the energy of Jacksonville's citi- 
zens repaired the losses, and on the El Dorado corner was reared a handsome brick 
structure by the Masonic fraternity, and again private purses were made to suffer for 
the benefit of the town. In 1881, the Presbyterians erected a very handsome edifice 
for worship at a cost of nearly $4,000, the heaviest contributors being C. C. Beekman 
and William Hoffman. The church is the most ornate and handsome in Southern 
Oregon, with stained-glass windows, and a seating cajmcity of two hundred and fifty — 
a credit to those who so generously gave towards its erection. But the crowning glory of 
Jacksonville is its magnificent court house, erected in 1883—1, at a cost of about 
$32,000, and after a strenuous opposition from rival points and from citizens. It is the 
cheapest building ever erected in Oregon, and "the bill of costs," never increased by a 
single dollar from the amount stipulated in the contract, has disappointed the most bit- 
ter opponents of the building, who predicted that it would ultimately foot up a hundred 
thousand dollars. Jacksonville may grow no larger, at least until population becomes 
more congested in the rich valley in which it is situated, but it will long remain one of 
most interesting towns of Southern Oregon. It is a heritage from the adventurous men 
who carved out homes far beyond the utmost limits of civilized life ; a town that has 
passed into the highest state of civilization, having no impress of the pioneers who 
founded it, save their chivalry and general unselfishness. Peopled largely by citizens 
imbued with broad and liberal views, it has always deservedly been recognized as 
one of the most hospitable towns in Oregon, and it is to be hoped its character in this 
latter respect may never change. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS. 

Phoenix— Its Rise and Fortunes— Medford— Central Point— Little Butte— Eagle Point— Gold Hill— Big Bar- 
Rock Point— Grant's Pass. 

Phcenix. — This village, nicknamed Gasburg, was settled very early in the history 
of the Rogue river country. Samuel Culver, in the fall of 1851 — he being one of the 
very first pioneers — took up a donation claim where the town now stands, and has ever 
since continued to occupy it. In the following summer his brother Hiram came, 
bringing the families of both, and took up a claim adjoining Samuel's, and like the 
other, of 640 acres of land. In the same year (1852) came Samuel D. Van Dyke, 
Matthew Little, E. E. Gore and O. D. Hoxie, and settled near by. In 1853 the settle- 
ment was augmented by James Sterling, John and H. M. Coleman, George T. Vining, 
Gridiey, C. S. Sergeant, James P. Burns, W. Lynch, Milton Lindley, Mathes, Harry 
and Harvey Oatman and Henry Church. In 1854 the town of Phoenix was laid out 
on the land of Mr. Samuel Culver. In 1855 S. M. Wait built the large flouring mill 
on land donated by Mr. Culver. Subsequently Mr. Wait went to Washington terri- 
tory and founded the town of Waitsburg, turning over his Phoenix mill property to E. 
D. Foudray, who improved it very much, building a new structure and digging a 
race. In 1859 this mill was sold in turn to William Hess; in 1862 to James T. Glenn; 
in 1864 to E. D. Foudray ; in 1871 to G. W. Wimer ; in 1876 to the Grangers ; in 
1878 to P. W. Olwell, who paid $10,000 therefor, and who still owns and operates it. 
Harvey Oatman built the first hotel in Phcenix, and Henry Church and Harrison B. 
Oatman were the first merchants, doing business under the name of Church & Oatman. 
Culver & Davenport, and Wait & McManus were also engaged in mercantile 
affairs in early years. Judge Orange Jacobs, of subsequent celebrity, was a teacher of 
youth for the early settlers of Phcenix, and also practiced his profession of the law for 
a time in the same locality. In 1858 Phcenix was spoken of as improving rapidly. 
The water power of the town was considered of great advantage, and the place was said 
to bid fair to become a rival to Jacksonville. In February, 1861, the placer diggings 
were discovered near town, the gravel extending a considerable distance along the base 
of the hills. These diggings have realized a very considerable amount of money. 
From the Coleman and Reams mines about $170,000 is reported as the product, and 
some gold is yet being extracted. In 1864 Phcenix had reached its climacteric, and all 
was prosperity. The town was the home of lawyers, doctors, artisans and merchants. 
Business was very brisk, and the mines were producing well. But this era of pros- 
perity had an end sometime along in the last of the sixties ; and in 1874 a stray 
traveler wrote of the place : " Decay, desolation, death are inscribed on her walls ; 
dusty in summer and muddy in winter, it is the abode of hard times." But the dys- 



JACKSON COUNTY. 375 

peptical fellow cheered up somewhat, and going into details, added: "It contains two 
gristmills, a store, tavern, school, and a Good Templars' organization. The people are 
industrious, temperate, and always ready for a dance or a religious revival." Again 
the fortunes of Phoenix were to see a change, and the town, like its namesake, rising 
from its ashes, was to far exceed its former prosperity. The advent of the railroad 
had a most salutary effect upon it, and probably a lasting one. The business and 
manufacturing houses of the place at present are four dry-goods stores, one hardware 
store, three blacksmith shops, a shoe shop, three hotels and eating houses, two flouring 
mills, one livery stable and four saloons. There is also a church, begun by the Meth- 
odists and Presbyterians jointly, in 1862, but afterwards owned exclusively by the 
latter. The number of inhabitants is thought to be 300. The chief points of interest 
about Phoenix are the grave (now empty) of Captain Stewart, U. S. A., the " Forty- 
nine " mines, Camp Baker, and S. Culver's residence. The curious visitor would do 
well to inspect the latter remarkable building, a relic as it is of times when Indians' 
assaults had to be provided against. CamjD Baker's site (used in the time of the 
rebellion for garrison purposes) is now grown up with underbrush, and its two dozen 
log buildings have rotted and fallen down. 

Medfoed, the newest town in Southern Oregon, is an important station of the 
railway, and is regarded as likely to become a very important shipping point. Its 
position is in the center of Bear creek valley, about four miles east of Jacksonville, 
and about midway between Phoenix and Central Point. It is the shipping point for 
a large section, including Jacksonville, a portion of the Applegate country, and a good 
part of the surrounding valley. In the winter of 1883-4 about forty wooden build- 
ings were put up, and the foundations of a brick building of considerable size were 
laid. A livery stable, hotel, several stores and offices of a few professional men con- 
stitute a portion of the town. 

Cexteal Poixt also is situated upon Bear creek, and is in the northeastern 
corner of township 37 south, range 2 west. Its position is very nearly in the center 
of the inhabited part of Jackson county, from whence its citizens argue its claims for 
the county seat. Its name is derived from the fact of its central location. It is six 
miles from Jacksonville in a direct line, and is a station of the Oregon and California 
railway. The land upon which the little village stands was entered by the Mag-ruder 
brothers in 1868, at which time they set up a store of general merchandise, and in 
1872 a post office was established here, bearing the name of the place. Central Point 
now consists of s even dwellings, a school house, store, blacksmith shop, wagon shop, 
hotel, post office, feed stable, and saloon. Some of the very earliest pioneers located 
near this place, among them Judge Skinner, Mr. Hop wood, Chesley Gray, and others. 
The most extensive farming operations known in the valley have been carried on 
near by. Xorth and northeast of Central Point lies a section of country which com- 
prises the " Big Sticky," Little Butte, Antelope, and Dry creek valleys, and a portion 
of the valley of Bogue river. It is an agricultural section exclusively, excepting as 
to the upper portions of the valleys, which are devoted to grazing. The population is 
scattering; two small villages with post offices, have only been built up, Mining there 
is none, and lumbering is carried on but to a limited extent. The first named section, 
called Big Sticky or " the desert," lies on the eastern side of Bear creek, beginning a 



376 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

short distance below Phoenix, and continuing to Rogue river. Its length is perhaps 
twelve miles, average breadth, three. Its characteristics are a soil of adobe, clay of 
wonderfully tenacious nature. It is difficult of tillage, but is productive of grain, and 
very durable in fertility. In early years some noted pioneers settled upon this tract, 
among them Alexander French, Asa Parker, John E. and Charles Seyforth, John and 
Nicholas Cook, and the unfortunate Major James Lupton. At a later period Messrs. 
French and Parker moved to the Atlantic states, John Cook died on this coast a few 
years since, and N. Cook is now a merchant at Willow Springs, Jackson county. 
Lupton's place was that now owned by Martin Peterson, and called Mound Ranch, on 
account of the isolated hill standing thereupon. 

Eagle Point, located on Little Butte creek, about three miles from Rogue river, 
is a small village, at present containing two hotels, two stores, two blacksmith shops, 
a flour mill, boot and shoe shop, carpenter shop, church, school house, saloon, and post 
office. The place was named by John Mathews, in honor of the national bird. The 
post office was established in 1872, Andrew McNeil being postmaster. This gentleman 
retained the position until 1877, when it devolved upon F. B. Inlow, who yet holds it. 
The site of Eagle Point was taken up in 1853, by Abram Robinson, George Ludlow, 
and Freeman Smith. Mr. Robinson is now in Boise, Idaho, Mr. Ludlolv died in Iowa, 
several years since, and Mr. Smith returned to the east. These individuals took up 
800 acres as joint property, for the purpose of gardening and raising live stock for the 
market of Jacksonville, sixteen miles distant. Smith sold to James J. Fryer, in 
August, 1853. On the breaking out of the Indian war the partners had to take refuge 
elsewhere," and upon the conclusion of hostilities only Mr. Fryer returned to the place. 
That gentleman, with A. J. Daley, E. Emory and Peter Simon, are now the j>roprietors 
of Eagle Point. John Mathews settled near by, in 1854, and in the same year Fred- 
erick Westgate, N. A. Young and Little, opened a trading post a mile below town, 
and conducted it for several years. T. Cameron built the first dwelling in Eagle Point 
in the fall of 1853, a small log house which still stands. The Eagle Point flour mill 
was built in 1872, by John Daley and E. Emory. It contains two run of buhr-stones, 
capacity forty barrels of flour per day; motive power a turbine wheel, with a fall of 
seventeen feet. A. J. Daley now owns the mill. 

Little Butte Creek was so named at a very early day because the first miners 
and packers supposed the stream rose at the foot of Mount Pitt, the snowy butte. 
They were mistaken, inasmuch as the head of the stream is far south of that mountain. 
It flows a generally northwest course, and empties into Rogue river nearly opposite 
Upper Table Rock. The stream is easily fordable most of the year, has a bed ten or 
fifteen yards wide, and furnishes fine water power. Its valley is quite an agricultural 
region, has a fertile soil and is well watered. It contains one other village besides 
Eagle Point, namely, Brownsborough, seven or eight miles south of east, and lying in 
the northern part of township 36, range 1 east. This place was named in honor of 
H. R. Brown, who came in 1853, and settled permanently, being the first in that vicin- 
ity. There is a post office at Brownsborough, a store (owned now by Mr. Brown, but 
built by Bilger brothers), and five dwellings. In 1855 or earlier, John McDaniel and 
sons built a saw mill on Little Butte creek, and sawed the lumber of which the most 
of Jacksonville was constructed. In 1856 or 1857 the mill was removed to give place 



JACKSON COUNTY. 877 

to a grist mill. Pleasant Stone and Hathaway are supposed to have been the first 
settlers on Little Butte, as they arrived there in the stormy winter of 1852-3. Soon 
after came Tobias Linkwiler, Levi Tinkham, N. A. Young, Judge Silas J. Day, and 
Ed. Day, Robert Cameron, Champion Collier, William Collier, John Marshall, and 
some few previously mentioned. By the time of the last Indian war the settlement 
had become largely increased, so much so that quite a large military company — 
Alcorn's — was recruited among the hardy settlers of Butte. At that time all the people, 
were "forted up." Above Brownsborough, on the north fork of the creek is a some- 
what remarkable soda spring, which was discovered by John Mathews in 1865. Taking 
a land claim there, Mr. Mathews sold to James T. Glenn. Mr. Simon McCallister now 
owns the location. The water is said to possess wonderful healing properties, and the 
place is regarded as a good site for a sanitarium, a Saratoga, as it were, for the invalids 
of the coast. The north and south forks, Lick, Salt, Osborne, Dead Indian, Antelope, 
and Dry creeks are tributaries of Little Butte, and are of some importance by reason 
of the farming and timber land upon their banks, and the grazing to be had. The 
land is generally mountainous, the soil rather poor, excepting small tracts of bottom 
land. The timber is mainly oak, fir, pine, yew, madrone and cedar, and undergrowth 
of hazel, juniper, dogwood, grease wood and service berry abounds. 

Willow Springs, a point of some celebrity, was one of the very first settlements 
made in Jackson county. N. C. Dean settled here in 1851, taking up a donation 
claim, as previously stated. A little later John Kennedy joined Mr. Dean, and the 
two kept for several years a wayside hostelry. Kennedy was finally killed by the 
Indians at Hungry Hill, and his partner, too, has gone the way of all flesh. Near the 
springs pay dirt was struck in 1852, and successfully worked for many years, and, in 
fact, to the present date. At this place Mr. Nicholas Cook has a store of general mer- 
chandise, and keeps the post-office. Not far away is Lane's creek, a mining locality 
from which considerable gold has been taken, but chiefly memorable for a murder, 
committed irpon its banks. The victim was an old man naned Lane, from whom the 
stream derives its name. 

Kane's Creek, called also T' Vault's creek, was named for Dr. Kane, who settled 
near by, in 1853. The other name is that of the once celebrated colonel and editor, 
T'Vault, who also abode in the vicinity, being the first to arrive. Dr. G. H. Ambrose, 
Indian agent, came next after the colonel, and John Swinden, now living in the 
vicinity, came in July, 1853, being the oldest resident of the locality. The stream is 
small, but is of some importance from its placer diggings, which, like those of all the 
neighborhood, cannot be made profitable because of lack of water. The farming lands 
upon the creek are contracted in area, whereby agricultural operations are slight. 

The course of Rogue river, previously nearly south, turns sharply to the west on 
reaching Upper Table Rock and the mouth of Little Butte creek. It pursues this 
direction for the remainder of its course through Jackson county, and as far as the 
confluence of the Applegate, in Josephine county. From the Upper Table Rock the 
river flows by a constant succession of localities made memorable by important occur- 
rences in the past. Here are the Table Rocks, Bybee's (before styled Hailey's) ferry, 
Fort Lane, Big Bar — famed for having been so early a mining locality — Gold Hill, 
Foot's creek, the Dardanelles, Bloodv Run, Evans' creek, Evans' ferry, Jewitt's ferry, 

49 



378 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Vannoy's ferry, Long's ferry, and numerous other celebrated historical localities. In 
the four townships through which the river flows in its course from Upper Table Rock 
to the border of Josephine county, have occurred a very great proportion of the histor- 
ical incidents of Southern Oregon. In the lapse of a third of a century, nearly every 
square mile of its surface has become historical ground. Possibly no similar area in 
the United States has ever been the scene of so many and such varied occurrences, and 
certainly there is not on the Pacific coast a tract which, in that respect, bears an equal 
comjmrison. 

About the Table Rocks lived the powerful and warlike Rogue River tribe 
of Indians. Their war chief's name yet endures in the familiar designation of Sam's 
valley. In the beautiful little vale behind the Table Rocks, he and his people dwelt ; 
and in that neighborhood they waged battle against the whites. They were defeated 
by Major Kearney on the west bank of the river, some miles above the rocks ; they 
fought the bravest men of Jacksonville at their rancheria further down the river ; they 
were beaten by Lane in 1853; Fort Lane was built to awe and protect them in the fol- 
lowing year, this fortification standing on the south side of the river, just east from 
Gold Hill, and not far below the mouth of Bear creek. Here the military remained 
until the summer of 1856, in which year the band of Chief Sam left their old home, 
escorted by 100 troops, and traveled into the, to them, unknown country west of the 
Willamette, whence the most of them have, ere this, gone over to the silent majority. 
A few straying members of the band came back for a visit at a later date, as the people 
of Sam's and neighboring valleys still remember. But their mission was peaceful ; 
and soon the country knew them no more forever. 

Gold Hill is most peculiar in its character. From it was taken, as already 
explained, a remarkable deposit of gold. The hill, so-called, is perhaps 800 feet high, 
is about twelve miles from Jacksonville and borders the river, which forms two sides of 
a triangle, the hill standing in the center. There are many indications that Gold Hill 
was an enormous slide which broke off from the mountains to the west and fell in the 
valley below. The valley separating the two elevations is narrow, and through it flows 
the river, which is compelled to make a sharp turn because of the hill interposed in its 
course. Some persons have concluded from an examination of the region about Gold 
Hill that the supjwsed slide caused a great lake above by damming up the waters and 
causing them to overflow the Bear creek and connected valleys, whereby the various 
gravels and sedimentary rocks which underlie so large a part of the region were formed. 
They instance the beach marks on Table Rock, the sand cliffs at the head and along 
the side of the valley, and the worn and drifted appearance of gravel and boulders on 
"Big Sticky." Whatever may have been its origin, it is a very singular eminence and 
contains curious mineral substances worthy of examination by scientific men. Iron ore 
is found there in masses, and a company was formed to work the ore, but nothing came 
of it. About the base of Gold Hill lies the tract of the great railway line which is to 
connect California with the Pacific Northwest. Along the steep granite sides of the 
hill the engineers laboured for months, blasting and excavating with tireless will the 
adamant bulwarks opposing them. The passage of Rogue river and the cuts about 
Gold Hill are considered very remarkable works of engineering skill and perseverence 
and well repay an examination. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 379 

At Big Bar, just by Gold Hill, much mining was done in the early years. At 
one time in 1852 a rush of miners took place to the bar, where not less than 200 men 
were prospecting. Generally speaking their work was unprofitable. On several occa- 
sions companies have been formed and much money expended in endeavoring to dam 
the river and turn its waters across the bar, whereby its channel may be left dry and 
the sands worked; but thus far without success. It was considered a great mining 
enterprise when, in the summer of 1860, a dam was thrown across the river, but the 
scheme proved abortive, little gold being found in the gravel. In 1875 the Big Bar 
ami Rogue River Mining Company, of Portland, incorporated with a capital of $20,000, 
for the purpose of " turning the river and working the bar, and improving the naviga- 
tion of the Rogue river." This scheme was likewise unsuccessful. 

The Dardanelles, in the neighborhood of Gold Hill, is at present known as the 
T'Vault place. Here dwelt the colonel and here were gathered the white settlers 
to seek protection from the Indians in time of war. Near by was Doctor G. H. 
Ambrose's donation claim. In 1860, the Dardanelles sprang into new life and activity 
through the establishment of Klippel, McLaughlin and Williams' steam quartz mill to 
reduce the rock from the newly discovered Gold Hill mine. A hotel, the Adams House, 
was put up and other improvements were inaugurated. But soon the " boom " ceased, 
the mine was exhausted, and the Dardanelles sunk into its previous obscurity. 

Foot's Creek was prospected in early times by O. G. Foot, a miner, who dis- 
covered rich gravel in its bed. From him the stream derived its name. It became 
celebrated as a mining region in 1852, and ever since has yielded considerably. Lack 
of water has prevented the larger bodies of gravel from being worked, and it is judged 
that the introduction of large hydraulic streams would pay very largely and contin- 
uously. The claims owned by G. W. Lance and S. Duffy are the most extensive. 
Near the Birdsey place, which is on the south side of the river, stood the army hos- 
pital for the sick and wounded soldiers of the war of 1855-6. The building used was 
a double house of hewed logs, which still stands and is in use as a stable. Afterwards 
the medical department moved to Jacksonville. 

Rock Point stands upon the north bank of the river, in township 36, range 3 
west. It is characterized by an excellent location, being upon the railroad, of which 
it is an important station, and in the geographical center of the two counties of Jack- 
son and Josephine. Its name, like those of many other localities, is self-explanatory, 
and was given, probably in 1852, by packers or miners. The post-office was estab- 
lished in in 1857 or 1858, with J. B. White as postmaster, the same being the original 
town proprietor. L. J. White built the first hotel, in 1864, and two years previously 
Abram Schulz had put up a blacksmith shop. Haymond & White dealt in merchan- 
dise, beginning in 1868, and the latter partner sold to the Magruder brothers, H. H. 
and Constantine, in 1874, so remaining until now. Rock Point now contains a store, 
hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop, saloon, post-office, school house and telegraph 
office. Above the town a short distance is the railroad bridge across Rogue river, a 
very considerable structure over 1,000 feet long, substantial and durable, one of the 
succession of extensive engineering works by which the iron causeway attains the 
valley. 



380 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Woodville, through which passes the railway, at present of but little note, is located 
at the mouth of Evans' creek, which terminates here. The creek is a considerable 
stream, upon whose banks for many years miners have labored, and the horny-handed 
agriculturist is now settling. The stream was named for Davis Evans, nicknamed 
Coyote, proprietor of the well-known ferry. Prospected for gold before the war of 1853, 
it was then abandoned by whites from fear of the Indians, and on the final settlement 
of these difficulties in 1856, the Chinese, then coming in large numbers, took possession 
of the ground, and mined successfully. They were driven out by whites when their 
good fortune became known, and the latter took the claims and made good wages. 
Various other mineral substances of value are found upon this stream. Quicksilver 
was mined in 1874, and quite an excitement followed. Many locations were made and 
an assay office was established in Woodville. A salt spring exists there, and Fuller 
& Company erected apparatus, in 1864, to evaporate the water and to purify the con- 
tained salt. One of the affluents of Evans' creek, called Pleasant creek from the name 
of Pleasant Armstrong, who was killed in Lane's battle with the Indians on a tributary 
of Evans' creek, in August, 1853, afforded pay-dirt to quite a number of miners about 
the year 1860. Sardine creek enters the Rogue river on the north side, just above 
Rock Point, and it, too, has a history as a mining region. Its mines were discovered in 
1853 by a prospector living with A. J. Kane, near the Dardanelles. The story of its 
riches went forth, and within a few days a large number of miners were on the ground. 
The peculiar name, says Mr. Kane, is derived from the fact that sardines formed apart 
of the provisions of the first arrivals. The banks of the stream were worked extensively, 
afterward, by whites and Chinese, between whom the usual one-sided antagonism existed. 

Grant's Pass. — The westernmost village of Jackson county, has long been known 
as Grant's Pass. At first, known only as a station of the O. & C. stage company 
where the horses were changed, and tired passengers consoled themselves with an 
excellent meal, the place took on a new phase with the advent of the railway, and 
became very quickly the liveliest town of its size in Oregon. Speculative men had 
lots surveyed and forced them on the market, and houses went up thereon with magical 
quickness. Grant's Pass is a typical railway town, its interests . centering in the 
arrival and departure of trains, the extension of the road, and the patronage of the 
train-men, more than aught else. It possesses hotels, saloons, shops of various sorts, 
and perhaps two scores of dwelling houses where, six months since, hardly a building- 
was in sight. But its principal building is the railway depot, a structure similar in 
design and construction to those adopted by the 0. & C. R. R. Company for all its 
stations, and built with the highest regard to convenience and beauty. Consequently, 
the elegant depots of the various railway stations in Southern Oregon, are thus far the 
architectural culmination of the villages in which they are located. At Grant's Pass the 
construction and repair shops of the railway are to be permantly situated. 

Tallent is the modern name of the locality formerly called Wagner creek, from 
Wagner, the earliest settler. It is a station of the Oregon and California railway, and 
a place of some importance in the history of Jackson county, inasmuch as near by was 
formed in very early times a well known settlement. In the time of the Indian war of 
1853 the Wagner house was a resort of the surrounding settlers who came there for 
protection from the savages. It is now a thriving and busy locality. 





1 mm 



CHAPTER XLV. 



OREGON AND CALIFORNIA RAILROAD. 

Early Efforts to Construct a Road— Oregon and California Grant — Line built to Roseburg — Difficulties of the Com- 
pany—Extension of the Line Southward — Difficulty of Construction — Triumph of Engineering Skill — Its Im- 
portance to Southern Oregon — Character of its Management. 

The construction of a line of railroad to pas? up the Willamette valley and enter 
California by way of the Urupqua and Rogue River valleys, engaged the attention of 
enterprising citizens of Oregon, while yet it was a territory. Several railroad charters 
were granted by various legislatures, but none of these projects ever assumed a more 
tangible shape. In the winter of 1865-6 Simon G. Elliott procured from cougress a 
land grant subsidy for such a line, and immediately came to Oregon and incorporated 
a company to enjoy its benefits. The managers of the enterprise were Ben Holladay 
& Co. Bonds were sold at fifty per cent., and money enough realized to construct a 
line 200 miles south from Portland, terminating at Roseburg in 1872. The advent of 
this road into Southern Oregon, although it penetrated only to the center of Douglas 
county, was an event of supreme importance. The whole region brought within the 
circle of its influence was invigorated and entered upon a season of unwonted pros- 
perity. For nearly ten years Roseburg remained the southern terminus, and reaped 
all the benefit to be derived from such a desirable situation. Much litigation had 
attended the operations of Ben Holladay, and the company soon became bankrupt. 
The German bondholders decided to take possession of the property, and sent Henry 
Villard here to look after their interests. Out of confusion he brought order, and 
transformed a bankrupt railroad into a paying enterprise. In 1882 an agreement was 
entered into with the managers of the Central Pacific to extend that road northward 
from the Sacramento valley, and work was then begun at Roseburg to continue this 
line southward to meet the Central Pacific at the Oregon and California line. This 
work, as well as the management of the whole road, is under the direct supervision of 
Mr. R. Koehler, vice-president of the company. Mr. Koehler brings to bear in the 
handling of the road an experience and judgment that are extremely valuable. He is 
an affable, courteous gentleman, enjoying the confidence and respect of the owners of 
the road, as well as all who come in contact with him socially, or in business matters. 
His official conduct is marked by an enlightened regard for the true interests of the 
country through which the road passes. The task of extending the road beyond Rose- 
burg has proved an arduous one. 

The construction of the railway through this entire region has been marked 
by the greatest dispatch consistent with thorough workmanship, and the engineer- 
ing difficulties to be overcome. The material used is in every particular of the very 
best procurable. Steel rails of the finest manufacture have been laid, and the greatest 



382 SOUTHERN OEEGON. 

pains have been taken in the selection of other articles. The utmost resources of the 
saw-mills of the whole region have been brought into requisition to provide the neces- 
sary lumber for the bridges, culverts, etc.,and for other indispensable purposes. What- 
ever of the supplies that were attainable in the surrounding country have been pur- 
chased there, and employment thus given to the neighboring settlers. Another source 
of revenue to the latter class has arisen from their employment in the construction of 
the road-bed, for which an immense treasure has been disbursed. 

The advent of the iron horse forms, as it were, an epoch in the history of this section 
hardly second in greatness and importance to the settlement of the country itself. 
Railroad communication with the outer world is to the inhabitants of Southern Oregon 
a matter of deepest significance ; its effects, extending to the very groundwork of 
society, and penetrating every branch of business and every industrial occupation, and 
making themselves felt by every individual, no matter in what situation he may find 
himself. The ordinary importance of such an event is here intensified many fold by 
reason of the previous utter isolation of the region — an isolation which has been pre- 
viously dwelt upon herein, and which has scarcely a parallel in any extensive civilized 
locality. The results of the new and improved condition of things have already been 
felt beneficially, even to the utmost limits of the habitable part of the country, and 
business, formerly of limited extent and uncertain intent, has gained a wider scope 
and more steadfast character. The conditions which surrounded the settlement of this 
region disappeared with celerity at the first blast of the locomotive whistle, and these 
mountain valleys became at that moment a part of the world at large, and bade 
adieu at once to their former seclusion and lax habits of business. 

The immensely expensive work of preparing the road-bed through the rough and 
mountainous region between the Umpqua and Rogue rivers, which more than once had 
been pronounced impassable for a railroad, weighed upon their resources, but in a sur- 
prisingly short space of time, these difficulties were conquered and the army of con- 
struction moved on to attack the enemy in even a stronger position among the peaks 
and gorges of the rugged Siskiyou range. It was among these lofty and rugged moun- 
tains that the greatest difficulties had to be met, and the greatest and most extensive 
engineering operations carried on. In that portion of the line between Barron's and 
the state line the obstacles were of the most serious nature, and severely taxed the most 
powerful resources. The work of building the road across these mountains encounters 
difficulties almost unparalled in the history of railway construction in this country, and 
far beyond most European roads. Their extent has previously prevented the union of 
California with Oregon by rail, and except for the energy, perseverance and discern- 
ment of the principal officers of the Oregon and California railway company, might 
have retarded that union for years to come. There are in Douglas and Josephine 
counties nine tunnels, some of them quite extensive, and in the Siskiyou region there 
are seven more. Tunnel, number 13, known as Buck Rock tunnel, is '1,650 feet in 
length, and number 15, the great Siskiyou tunnel, is 3,070 feet long. Siskiyou tunnel, 
besides being the longest upon the road, will take rank as the highest also, being 4,152 
feet above the sea-level. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY, 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY. 

Position — Boundaries — Area— Topography — Water Courses — The Umpqua River— Attempts to Navigate the 
Stream — Channel Improved by the Government — The Cascade Mountains — Grand Scenery— Snowy Peaks 
and Mirror Lakes — Game and Fish of the Cascades — The North Umpqua — The Coast Range. 

Of the five counties embraced within the scope of this work, Douglas is the 
largest and lies farthest to the north. It is bounded on the north by Lane county, on 
the east by the summit of the Cascade mountains, on the south by the counties of 
Jackson and Josephine, and on the west by Coos county and the Pacific ocean. Its 
area is estimated at 4,950 square miles, or about one-twentieth of the whole state of 
Oregon, of which it is one of the most important and prosperous counties. Its shape 
is quite irregular, since its boundary lines follow principally the courses of rivers and 
mountain ranges, and its greatest length is 121 miles, running northwest and southeast. 

Douglas county includes the region commonly known as the Umpqua valley ; 
but this term as we shall see is a misnomer. The only resemblance to a valley consists 
in the basin-like depression which the whole county forms when contrasted with the 
height of the mountains which encompass it. To the east lie the Cascades ; north are 
the Calapooias ; south are the Canyon and the Rogue river mountains ; while on the 
west lies that portion of the Coast Range known as the Umpqua mountains. These 
ranges are mostly co-incident with the county boundaries as established by law, hence 
it can be seen that nature has set apart this region and surrounded it with rocky walls. 
The interior of this great basin is composed of small valleys, plains, canyons, gorges, 
hills and mountains. Irregular ranges proceed from the main mountain chains and 
cross the county in various directions, causing an endless variety of hill and dale, 
meadow land and high elevation. The highest spurs proceed from the Cascades, and 
diverging westward, enclose between them the various eastern confluents of the Ump- 
qua, namely, the North Umpqua, South Umpqua, Calapooia, Deer, Cougar, Dead 
Man's, Bear, Coffee, Day's, and Myrtle, creeks or rivers. From the Canyon moun- 
tains rises Cow creek, which enters the South Umpqua. In the hills of the south- 
western portion the Olalla [Olilly], Ten Mile and Looking-glass creeks take their rise, 
flowing northwest into the South Umpqua. Hubbard, Lake and Camp creeks, rising 
in the Umpqua mountains, lose themselves in the main Umpqua, into which run the 
Calapooia and Elk creeks. Smith river rises in the northern part of the county and 
flowing west empties into the same stream near its mouth. Only one important stream 



384 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

within the limits of the county reaches the ocean direct. The Siuslaw, after a course 
of about fifty miles, runs into the Pacific without first communicating with the prin- 
cipal river. These streams, with hundreds of lesser size, constitute the means of 
drainage of the entire region. These means are perfect. The best and clearest water 
flowing from thousands of springs pervades the whole county, making it one of the 
best watered districts imaginable. 

The Umpqua is second only to the Willamette of th^ interior streams of 
Oregon in its value as an artery of commerce, and deserves a somewhat extended 
description. In 1879 it was surveyed by government engineers, from whose 
report the following is condensed. It rises in the Cascade mountains and flows 
westward for 180 miles, measured along its sinuosities, entering the Pacific ocean 
175 miles south of the mouth of the Columbia. Its principal branches are the 
North and South Umpqua, which unite ninety-six miles above its mouth. It drains 
with its tributaries an area of 4,200 square miles of mountainous country. Scottsburg, 
situated on the north bank of the river, twenty-six miles from its mouth, is the head 
of navigation. Above this the channel presents a succession of rapids and deep pools. 
From Scottsburg to Gardiner, at the head of the Umpqua bay, a distance of seventeen 
miles, navigation at present is carried on by means of steamboats, which make regular 
trips between the two points, carrying the mails, passengers and freight. Six miles 
below Scottsburg the river is from 300 to 1,500 feet deep, except at shoals hereafter to 
be noticed. Along this section it flows between steep, rugged hills of terraced sand- 
stone, from 500 to 1,000 feet high, whose slopes extend generally in an unbroken line 
into the water. Five miles below Scottsburg the river begins to widen. From this 
point to the head of the bay its width varies from 1,000 to 2,400 feet, while the bases 
of the hills receding from the banks, leave several strips of level land from three to six 
feet above mean tide level. All of the arable land on the Umpqua, below Scottsburg, 
is contained in these mesdows, whose combined area does not exceed 2,000 acres. They 
are well adapted to agriculture and grazing, the soil being rich and the vegetation 
easily cleared. 

Umpqua bay, from its entrance to its head, is eight miles long, and from three- 
fourths to one-half mile wide. On portions of both sides, marshes, intersected by tidal 
sloughs, extend to the hills. These lands cover about 1,800 acres, which, when 
reclaimed by diking, will be valuable. The bay is perfectly land-locked, affording a 
sheltered anchorage of 1,500 acres, with depths ranging from fourteen to thirty feet at 
low tide. It is the deepest just below Gardiner. The entrance to Umpqua bay pre- 
sents the same principal features and general outline as the sea. Pugged hills, covered 
with fir timber on the south, a long line of sand spit, strewn with drift, on the north, 
the channel running westward to the bar, which lies one-half a mile outside of the 
general shore line. No change of importance is perceptible in the form and position 
of the bar, as shown by the United States coast survey of 1852. The engineers made 
soundings across the bar, and found thirteen feet the least depth at low tide. Sailing 
vessels provided with pilots who know the bar, can enter in favorable weather. The 
floods of the Umpqua occur in the winter. The highest recorded is that of December, 
1861, which rose to a height of forty-five feet above low water mark at Scottsburg, and 
covered the marshes in the bay to a depth of two feet. 



Y ^0 




^ at .* s 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be' inserted at a future date. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 885 

The survey mentioned was requested by the citizens of Scottsburg for the purpose 
of ascertaining the feasibility and cost of removing the obstructions to navigation 
between that point and Gardiner. These consist of three bars, existing at Brandy island, 
Echo island, and the mouth of Deane's creek, and of a number of rocks in the channel 
just below the steamboat landing at Scottsburg. These bars have been formed recently 
as within a few years schooners drawing seven and a half feet ascended to within a 
mile of Scottsburg. They are composed of sand, mud and gravel overlying rock, with 
a ruling depth of two and a half to three feet at mean low tide. The materials required 
in building jetties to increase the scour are found in abundance in the vicinity. The 
estimated cost of improving the three bars is $11,110. With this report the matter was 
dropped, no subsequent action being taken either by the government or interested 
residents. 

As the main artery of the valley, the navigability of the Umpqua was formerly 
discussed, and Curtis Stratton attemped to demonstrate the feasibility of running flat- 
boats laden with agricultural produce down the river to Scottsburg and there selling 
the vessel for what the lumber would bring, having no hope of being able to ascend the 
river with any craft. This bold navigator made his experimental voyage in a small 
skiff, manned by two or three persons, and for the sake of irnpressiveness carried a flag 
and a tin horn whose footings resounded through the wooded hills and rocky canyons 
of the Umpqua. Their report of the difficulties they encountered destroyed all hope of 
navigating the river, for a time at least, steam power not then having entered into the 
calculation. The Swan, a steamer commanded by Captain Hahn [Haun] ascended the 
river as far as Roseburg in 1870. The distance from Scottsburg to Roseburg was 
stated to be nearly 100 miles. The latter place is situated at an elevation of 324 feet 
above the ocean, according to the topographical engineers ; but later surveys make it 
somewhat more. Winchester is 308 feet above tide-water, and Canyon ville 516. A 
move was made to secure appropriations from the general government for the purpose 
of improving the channel, as Captain Hahn reported that the expenditure of a few 
hundred dollars would enable vessels like his to pass the rapids with facility, except in 
seasons of extreme low water. Shortly after the initial voyage a company known as 
the Merchants and Farmers' Navigation company, was incorporated with the object of 
" navigating the Umpqua river from Gardiner to Canyonville or as far as practicable." 
The directors of the corporation were J. C. Floed, president; T. P. Sheridan, J. C. 
Hutchinson, D. C. McClellan and S. W. Crane. Asher Marks was treasure and James 
Walton secretary. The capital stock was fixed at twelve thousand dollars. Captain 
Halm's services were engaged and a suitable steamer was immediately constructed. 
This vessel was built under the direction of Captain Hahn, and was completed in 
August, 1870. Her name was the Enterprise, and her cost with incidentals was about 
$8,000. The directors of the company advertised their rates for freighting from 
Gardiner, which were as follows : To Scottsburg three dollars per ton ; to Calapooia ten 
dollars ; to Roseburg twelve ; and to landings above the latter place fourteen dollars. 
The rates down river were just one half the up river tolls. 

In editorial comment upon these events, the Plaindealer remarked: "There is now 
no doubt that the Enterprise will be able to come to Roseburg for at least four months 
in the year, and, with a very little improvement of the river, will be able to make her 

50 



3S6 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

trips for eight months. The difficulties in the way of navigation are more apparent 
than real, the distance from Scottsburg to Roseburg being one hundred miles, and the 
altitude of the latter place being about three hundred feet above mean tide. The 
improvements required consist principally in blasting rocks from the channel. There 
is sufficient water to secure navigation all the year around if confined in one bed, and 
the improvements, if once made, will last forever. Some few wingdams may be neces- 
sary on the South Umpqua, but the expense of these will be comparatively trifling. The 
estimated cost of these improvements is $75,000, which would open to commerce a more 
productive country than the Willamette valley. Senator Williams, the champion of 
Southern Oregon, introduced a bill in congress to authorize the secretary of war to 
make the necessary improvements, but the bill failed to pass. While we believe it to 
be the duty of congress to make improvements upon the navigable streams, we are 
happy to say that in this matter we shall not wait for their action, but will help our- 
selves." 

About the first of February following, the Enterprise left Scottsburg on her first 
trip up the river, and ascended beyond Sawyer's rapids, bat finding the water dimin- 
ishing, she returned to Scottsburg, and made no further effort. The winter was uncom- 
monly dry, and the Umpqua remained very low. In January of 1871, the state legis- 
lature memorialized congress for an appropriation of $75,000 to improve the navigation 
of the Umpqua. Some months before this, namely, in 1870, two officers of the U. S- 
engineer corps, Colonel Williamson and Lieutenant Herren, were detailed to make a 
survey of the river, in order to ascertain its navigability. They reported that it could 
be made navigable for about seven months in the year, with a depth of four feet above 
low water, from Scottsburg to Roseburg, for about $22,000 ; and that a steamer could 
then carrry freight to Roseburg for $20 per ton, and the amount saved annually on 
imports would pay for the improvements. 

The community had not by this time recovered from the pleasant sight of seeing a 
steamer floating in the South Umpqua at Roseburg, and upon that event quite a 
" boom " had been built up. Aided by the reports of the government engineers and 
the action of the state legislature, an appropriation was secured, congress giving the 
sum of $22,600 for the purpose of removing the obstructions to navigation. This took 
place in March, 1871. In the same month the Plaindealer said : " We are confident 
that ere two years have elapsed Roseburg will have daily steam communication with 
the coast for seven months in the year. Farmers, plant grain! " It is noticeable that 
for two or three years the newspapers argued manfully in the rainy season in favor of 
steamboats on the Umpqua. In summer, with the diminished floods, their thoughts 
took another turn, and railroads were their topic, until the advent of the Oregon and 
California road. 

The appropriation becoming available, the question of how to expend it became an 
important one for the whole county. Contracts were let for removing the rocks at the 
most dangerous rapids, and W. B. Clark undertook the work. The work was duly 
carried out and accepted. Mr. Clark received some $14,000 of the sum, the remainder, 
it is understood, not having been yet drawn. The results as to the navigation of the 
stream do not appear to have equaled expectations. No vessels have been able to 
ascend the river, or, rather, it does not appear that any have tried. Probably the idea 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 387 

of navigating a stream which falls on an average three feet in each mile, is sufficient to 
deter every experienced navigator. Since the coming of the railroad, the trade of 
Scottsburg with the interior has almost ceased, and the demand for river traffic has 
ceased with it. The steamers of the Merchants and Farmers' Navigation Company 
(they had purchased the Swan of Captain Halm) were engaged on the lower river, 
between Scottsburg and Gardiner, and after a time the Enterprise was taken around to 
Coos bay for service on that body of water. Captain Halm, the veteran navigator, the 
Columbus of the Umpqua, removed from the scene of his triumphs and perils, and 
withdrew to California. The railroad projected from Roseburg to Coos bay will finally 
remove all necessity for navigation of the Umpqua. 

Xear the eastern boundary of Douglas county lies a very interesting and remark- 
able region, whose peculiarities deserve a somewhat lengthened description, unique as 
they are in many respects. It is a region of trees, of rocks, and of waterfalls. Here 
nature is seen at her grandest. The precipitous sides of the lofty mountains are 
clothed with evergreens. In the shade of the mighty forest the streams flow from slope 
to slope, tracing their lonely way over rock and through chasm, laving the mossy 
boulder and bearing away minute fragments to the' land below. In summer this is an 
enchanting land. All nature as seen in the temperate zone, conspires to make inter- 
esting and sublime the countrv of the Cascades. It is of the hi°;her altitudes that 
mountaineers and travelers speak when they describe the glories of the scenery. The 
region is one of wonderful beauty, grandeur and picturesqueness. The union of vast 
distances, with towering heights, mirror-like expanses of water, limitless forests, and 
rushing torrents, makes up a scene that even the most prosaic of humanity can but 
regard with interest and awe. The mighty Cascade range culminates at the head of 
the Rogue and Umpqua rivers. It is there that are massed and concentrated the grand- 
est views, the most romantic situations, the fairest of nature's works. In no other 
region of equal extent are found a greater number or variety of objects attractive to the 
tourist, the lover of nature or the pleasure-seeker. Eleven grand snow-peaks are ranged 
within view. Mounts Scott, Thielsen, Pitt, Old Baldy, the Bohemian range and Dia- 
mond Peak, crowned with everlasting snow, seem to crowd upon each other. A score 
of beautiful lakes, tenanted by the gamest fish, lie about the bases of the giant peaks. 
Crater lake, to the southward, on the confines of Jackson county, lies surrounded by 
its five sentinels, objects to rivet the eye and the mind. The volcano lying within the 
magic circle formed by the upper waters of South Umpqua, presents its ruined and 
demolished w r alls as evidence of the mighty agencies which built up this stupendous 
range, and later on covered a vast region with pumice and scoria. This mountain, or 
rather the remains of what was once a mountain, and perhaps one of the largest and 
highest of all the Cascades, lies southwest of Co whom Peak, and but a few miles dis- 
tant. It consists of a rim of rock a few hundred feet in height, rising steeply from the 
east and nearly perpendicularly from the west, toward which point the rim is concave 
like the arc of a circle. This arc partly incloses the space upon which the volcano sat, 
but whose internal forces destroyed it and blew it in fury from its resting place. Four 
small lakes filled with clear water and alive with trout, sparkle in the place where once 
such mighty energies were at work. Five hundred feet perpendicularly rise the rugged 
rocks to the east, forming an inaccessible wall which overlooks the now placid and 



388 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

quiet scene. The altitude of the higher peaks varies from 8,500 to 9,250 feet, Diamond 
Peak and Mt. Scott being of about the former height, and Baldy, Cowhorn and Pitt, 
each over 9,000 feet. The Bohemian range, at the junction of the Calapooias with the 
Cascades, is something like 7,000 feet, and many other prominent points north and 
south approach or exceed these figures 

Through these solitudes the lordly elk once made his way, but now his race is 
there extinct. Bears of various species, the brown, the black, the cinnamon, and even 
the grizzly, abound upon the lower slopes, deriving their sustenance from the clover, 
which blossoms early, and getting fat in the time the huckleberries ripen. At other 
times they exist upon smaller and weaker animals, the sheep of the adventurous fron- 
tiersmen forming a greater part of their diet. Bears are most numerous upon the head- 
waters of the South Umpqua, where they may be seen in dozens, in early spring, 
browsing upon the tender shoots of clover. Here is the sportsman's paradise. To hunt 
and kill even this game is a thing of little moment. Even the powerful grizzly is dis- 
patched with hardly a thought of danger by the hardy guides and mountaineers. The 
deer (blacktail) are hunted with success, three Indians having killed, in a few days, or 
rather murdered for their hides, no less than two hundred and ten deer on the small 
stream known as Fish lake creek. These beautiful and timid animals become very fat 
in the autumn, their flesh being equal to the best beef and mutton. The mule deer is 
occasionally met with on this slope of the range, but not often do they come west of 
the summit, their habitat being upon or among the less wooded hills and mountains of 
Eastern Oregon and Idaho. They exceed the blacktail in size, but not in quality of 
meat. The maximum weight of the mule deer is said to reach 300 pounds, or twice 
that of the largest blacktails. 

Antelopes have been seen near Cowhorn, but their range is eastward on the open 
hills, and rarely are they found in a densely timbered country. Mountain sheep are 
reported in the Cascades, but are seldom or never seen in Douglas county. Grouse 
are abundant, pheasants not less so. The former, a migratory bird, accumulates much 
fat during his stay among the huckleberries and salal bushes, and provides for the 
hunter's fare a delicacy not easily surpassed. Geese and ducks breed in the lakes and 
marshes of the higher Cascades, and during a great part of the year are exceedingly 
numerous. Their flesh, too, assists to vary the diet of the hardy hunter. Trout of two 
species abound in nearly all the lakes and streams. These matchless game fishes are 
of more than one species, the small mountain or brook trout existing in the rapid 
streams, a much larger variety finding its home in the lakes and certain of the larger 
and deeper rivers. These latter not unfrequently attain a weight of ten pounds or 
more. Some minor varieties of fish also occur here, the chub being the principal. In 
Fish lake, close to the volcano, the greatest profusion of these varieties occurs, making 
a favorite resort, not only of man, but of those more skilled fishers, the fish-eating birds 
and mammals. By a singular chance there are no fish in Cowhorn lake, as reported 
by mountaineers. The water of that lake is said to be warm, which may account for 
their absence. The guessed altitude of this sheet of water is 4,500 feet, its surface has 
an area of 5,000 acres, it is comparatively shallow, is oblong in shape, and forms the 
source of the North Umpqua. Next to Crater lake it presents more points of interest 
than any other of the remarkable bodies of water found on the higher Cascades. 






DOUGLAS COUNTY. 389 

The region of the North Umpqua is one of canyons, endless precipices and water- 
falls, and is destitute of aught but the faintest of trails. Taking its rise in Lake Dia- 
mond (Cowhorn Peak lake), the river flows in a stream of thirty or forty feet in width, 
and perhaps a foot deep, running over a bed of pumice stone. Further on it is 
swelled by numerous affluents, all rising from springs, sometimes of great capacity, and 
all carrying the clearest and coldest of water, within which the speckled trout gambols. 
Instead of extensive prairies, only very small openings appear, covered with grass. 
Within these the greatest profusion of game, animals and birds find sustenance, and in 
the shadow of the woods the huge and active cougar (California lion) stalks, cat-like, 
upon his unsuspecting victim. Man has never reduced these lonely solitudes to his sway, 
and for many a long year will find them profitless, save for the timber which grows 
here, or for the health which all m'dj seek in the pure air and icy waters. 

The Coast Range mountains, though not so lofty as the Cascades, and not possessing 
the snowy peaks and great mountain lakes of which that region boasts, are still most 
picturesque and beautiful. From it run down many small streams to the sea, or to 
augment the waters of the Umpqua, Siuslaw or Coquille, which have hewn a passage 
for themselves through this opposing wall. These little streams dash from rock to 
rock, gathering here and there into cool and shaded pools where dwell the speckled 
trout. At their banks the timid deer assuages his thirst. Sometimes the lordly elk — 
scion of a fast disappearing race — ventures to the mossy brim. Certain wise and cau- 
tious forest inhabitants, the marten, the weasel, the fisher, here hide from the eye of 
man, and prey upon the harmless creatures destined for their food. The blundering 
black bear, much maligned for his love of mutton, has his unpretentious home among 
these almost impenetrable thickets. The California lion has been heard to roar in 
these solitudes, and his lesser congener, the wild cat, is not unknown therein. The 
active chipmunk and the small red squirrel, with their graceful and handsome relative 
the bushy-tailed gray squirrel, find within these woods the sustenance and protection 
which their habits demand and utilize. This is even now the condition of these 
mountains, so little has the order of nature been disturbed. 

The avalanche or landslide, is a feature of this region, when great masses of 
earth, loosened by the action of the water, come rushing irresistibly down some narrow 
canyon. Sometimes every loose boulder, all trees, and every particle of earth will be 
swept onward with the accumulated waters, leaving the place over which they passed as 
clean and bare as if it had been carefully cleared by the mightiest forces of science 
and nature. A marked example of this may be seen at Laird's Half-way House, 
usually known as Sitkum. A slide of unusual magnitude took place in the mountain 
above the house, an enormous amount of timber, boulders and earth falling over the 
100-foot cascade, near by. From the narrow canyon below the fall every vestige of 
loose rocks, trees and earth was removed, leaving the solid sandstone walls and floor 
perfectly smooth. Below and near the buildings the debris collected, and now lies 
many feet in depth, covering fertile land and desolating an otherwise pleasant pros- 
pect. Nearly twenty persons were gathered in the house, and all narrowly escaped 
death, the avalanche passing so near as absolutely to pile itself to a considerable height 
against the end of the building. A little diversion of its flood and all would have 
been lost. 



CHAPTER XL VII. 

i 

RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES OF DOUGLAS COUNTY. 

Wealth of Timber — Extent of the Forests— Varieties of Forest Growth — Timber Comparatively Untouched — Min- 
eral and Coal Resources— Agricultural — Sheep, Cattle and Horses — Fruit and Berries— Transportation Facilities. 

The natural resources of Douglas county are of the most valuable and inexhaustible 
character, consisting of a wealth of desirable timber, valuable deposits of minerals, and 
a soil of great fertility. Agriculture and stock-raising, especially sheep of the finer 
grades, comprise the leading industries of the people. Of the various resources and 
industries it is the purpose of this chapter to speak in detail. The most prominent and 
observable source of wealth is the limitless extent of forests that cover the sides and 
bases of the mountains which enclose the Umpqua basin. Two vast ranges of forest- 
covered mountains traverse the state from north to south, the Coast Range and Cas- 
cades, and within the limits of Douglas county, united as they are by lateral ranges, 
they bear upon their tops and sides a wealth that would ransom a nation. 

As yet, the woodman's axe has left uueffaced the glories of the great forest, which 
clothe, as with a garment, the rugged, scarred and canyon-seamed sides of the Cascades. 
For thirty miles, with scarcely a break, the mighty woods extend downward, from near 
the everlasting snow to the green and smiling valleys. Here grow the cedar, pine, fir, 
hemlock (scattering), yew and other less notable trees, and attaining a great size and 
producing lumber of the very best quality. The pine is of two varieties, the sugar and 
the white pine, the former, a most beautiful and valuable wood, predominating. Speci- 
mens of this timber yield boards, split with frow and mallet, to the length of thirty and 
even fifty feet. They grow to a great height, affording a length of from 70 to 100 feet 
clear of limbs and knots, and reaching five and a half feet in greatest diameter. The 
finest groves of sugar pine exist on a small tributary of Cavitt creek, where, on a space 
of one acre, sixteen of these fine trees stand, whose average base diameter is nearly four 
feet. The firs also flourish, growing with a straight grain that allows them to be split 
to almost any length. The yellow fir is the most valuable ; the red variety most 
abundant. The cedar grows abundantly, partaking of the qualities of the pine as far 
as regards adaptability to the construction of dwellings. Two varieties, the smooth bark 
and the mountain cedar, grow, the latter by far the most abundantly, but least valua- 
ble. A portion of the timber may be found to be affected by dry rot, but the greater 
percentage is perfectly sound in every particular. The sugar pine attains a maximum 
diameter of seven feet ; there are red firs of a diameter of eleven feet, though these are 
rare ; and specimens of the smooth bark cedar have reached eight feet through or 
twenty-five feet in circumference. The rough bark cedar is somewhat less in maximum 
diameter. Besides these, some less important growths are found. The yew, famous for 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 391 

its durability, grows upon the low flats sometimes to a diameter of thirty inches. In 
Portland, the wood commands eighty dollars per thousand feet, being used for the finer 
grades of cabinet work. 

In order to arrive at a roughly approximate estimate of the amount of fir, pine and 
cedar timber now standing in the eastern part of Douglas county, it is necessary to 
inquire what area of land is covered by these trees? For other purposes we may assume 
that the whole country east of range 4, is timber land. This area equals about thirty 
townships. In the absence of minute statistics one can do no more than assume that 
the average of standing timber thereon is 35,000 feet per acre — presumably a low esti- 
mate. These figures result in 22,666,000,000 feet, a quantity inconceivable to the 
mind, but certainry a very important and telling factor in the future prosperity of the 
country. 

Thus far but faint attempts have been made to utilize this splendid source of 
wealth. Two small mills only are upon the North Umpqua. Of these, Patterson's 
mill, owned now by the Tipton Brothers, stands upon the banks of the river a mile 
below the East Umpqua. Steam is the motive power, and there are double circulars, 
edgers, trimmers, a planer, etc. This mill, built in 1876, was located four miles further 
upstream, but on the accession of the present owmers, in 1878, was removed to its pres- 
ent site. Its capacity is from 10,000 to 13,000 feet of lumber per day, most of which 
finds a market at Roseburg. The other mill spoken of is owned now (1883) by Messrs. 
Sambert & Noble, purchasers from Mr. Trask, and is located one mile below the Pat- 
terson, having nearly the same capacity. The motive poAver is water. The mill was 
built about 1876, and manufactures ordinary lumber, doors, windows, shingles, etc. 
The average price of rough lumber, fir, per thousand, has been about ten dollars, while 
sugar pine has brought twenty-five dollars. 

The timber covering the Coast Range differs in some respects from that of the 
Cascades, the chief point of distinction being the vast quantity of white cedar to be 
found in these coast mountains. Though found on the eastern slope, this valuable tree 
is only seen in its splendor and abundance on the sides of the mountains that look out 
upon the sea. The red cedar also exists in quantity. Red and white fir and spruce 
are also found in abundance. Along the water courses, especially on the western slope 
myrtle is found in such quantities as to dispute the pre-eminence of the stately firs and 
cedars. The myrtle is known in California as laurel or pepper-wood, and in other 
places as the bay tree. . Not less imposing in appearance, though less numerous, are the 
maples which fairly divide the traveler's attention with the myrtles. These prefer 
likewise the soft, mellow soil of the bottom lands. They grow as high as their neigh- 
bors and perhaps slightly higher, but so equal are they all in size, height and appear- 
ance that the harmony of the groves is unbroken. Both grow from fifty to seventy 
feet, stand at regular distances and form a dense shade. Both are deciduous ; that is r 
they drop their leaves at a certain season and stand uncovered before the blasts of win- 
ter. Their rich foliage lies upon the ground to quietly decompose and add its elements 
to the soil already enriched by the deposits of centuries. The resulting mould forms 
the richest and most easily cultivated soil of which the state of Oregon can boast. For 
root crops and grasses it has no equal. 



392 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

As yet the forests of the Coast Range stand almost in their primeval condition. 
Here and there the mountain side is scared with great patches of black, sometimes 
miles in extent, where forest fires have ravaged the vergin forest ; but man has made 
little impression upon them in taking out the few thousand feet of lumber his needs 
have required. The patches cleared by settlers, chiefly the maple and myrtle from the 
bottom lands, represent the most considerable inroads upon the forests; when slaughtered, 
or " slashed," for that purpose, the trees are generally disposed of by burning. The 
timber forests of Douglas will be a source of wealth to her people for many generations 
to come. 

There is another element of natural wealth, and that is the mineral treasure the 
earth contains, both of gold and silver. The most important mineral region is the 
Bohemia district, situated in the Calapooia mountains, about fifty miles northeast 
from Oakland, and seventy miles southeast of Eugene City. The quartz ledges are 
chiefly found in the immediate neighborhood of three peaks, named Mounts Majesty, 
Fan-view and Grouse. One Johnson, a prospector, discovered the ledges in 1867. In 
the next year several persons examined the locality, ascertaining that a very large 
number of gold and silver-bearing veins existed there. The most prominent ledge, 
named Excelsior, is situated upon the crest of Grouse mountain from which a precepi- 
tous canyon descends, affording access to the vein at great depths, with comparatively 
little tunneling, and obviating the use of pumping and. hoisting works. Assays were 
early made of this ore, the results reaching two thousand dollars per ton. An ample 
supply of ore for years was at hand. Judge Mosher and other gentlemen of Roseburg 
became owners of claims in this district and set about developing them, after a great 
deal of expense and trouble to find them profitless. Mr. Veatch, a capable mineralo- 
gist and expert, since deceased, made a journey to these mines under the auspices of the 
owners and reported thereon at length, describing them in flattering terms and only 
taking exceptions to the road thence which he denounced as of unparalleled difficulty. 
With great difficulty and at a cost of three thousand dollars the Bohemia and Cala- 
pooia Ridge route to the mines was opened in 1871. 

Many unavailing efforts were made to work these mines, but without success. 
John Rast, of Roseburg, owning a claim, became much interested therein, but his dis- 
coveries extended only to finding an extraordinary species of animal life in the snow 
thereabouts. Joseph Knott and son, of Portland, purchased a steam quartz mill of five 
stamps and ten -horse power, transported it at great cost and trouble to the top of the 
mountain and set it up. His venture was not altogether unsuccessful, if we may believe 
newspaper reports, for his mine produced some very valuable ore. From a crushing, 
of one hundred tons the yield averaged forty-five dollars per ton — an extraordinary 
production for any gold quartz mine. No base metals were found in the rock to render 
amalgamation difficult, and the gold was free and coarse. Even under such desirable 
conditions work soon ceased and has not since been resumed. It is to be understood 
from this that the veins carried but small percentage of gold-bearing quartz, the greater 
proportion being barren rock. Bohemia District is now practically abandoned ; but 
the not distant future may see its mines re-opened and work carried on with vigor. 
Developments showed that silver-bearing rock existed to some extent, one very rich 
streak having yielded chloride of silver to the amount of nearly two hundred dollars 






m 

a a 

to m 

m z 

CD n 

c m 

33 _ 

n p 
& en 

a -» 



O 

2 




DOUGLAS COUNTY^ 393 

per ton. This fact is of importance as pointing out what form future developments 
may take. Quartz ledges also exist on Poor man's creek, between Olilly and Cow creeks, 
and at other places in the county. 

From the vicinity of the Bohemia district flows Steamboat creek, which has its 
sources high in the Calapooia mountains, at an altitude of not less than 7,000 feet. 
Along the creek there are several thousand acres of land, good, not only for agricul- 
tural, but mineral pursuits. In 1860 several persons were engaged in mining on the 
stream, among whom was Robert Easton, who made with a short sluice from two to 
four dollars a day. Another attempt was made by a company in 1864, but a difference 
in their councils stopped the work when it was likely to be profitable. Since that time 
nothing has been done, and one of the best portions of the county has remained a 
wilderness. The creek is accessible from Patterson's mill by an Indian trail ; but 
small difficultv would be found in building an excellent wagon road to the headwaters 
of the most magnificent branch of the North Umpqua, which will develop a section of 
the county unsurpassed for mining or grazing purposes, without counting its agricul- 
tural facilities. 

About the time when Steamboat creek was being prospected, miners were also 
examining the other tributaries of the North Umpqua with a view to working the 
auriferous sands. In 1870 placers were discovered on Fall creek, flowing into the 
south side of the river, in township 26 south, range 3 west. Eor a time the miners 
were said to be making from four to ten dollars per day. These deposits proved of 
small extent, however, and were soon abandoned. On White Rock creek, Copperhead 
creek, and neighboring small streams the " color" was easily found, and a small amount 
of gold was taken out, chiefly by some half dozen men, among whom was R. L. Cavitt, 
now residing in the vicinity of his mining labors. Three hundred dollars were the 
result of his operations in a certain small gulch. The deposits of gravel, though pay- 
ing pretty well for a short time, proved of too small extent to be of importance, and 
placer mining upon the North Umpqua and its tributaries is a thing of the past. 

Placer mining has been carried on for a number of years in a desultory 
manner and with varied success, on Cow creek, and its tributaries, Tennessee gulch, 
Hog 'Em and Starve-out. Cow creek takes its rise on the south side of the Umpqua 
mountains, but turning north cuts through these mountains and empties into the South 
Umpqua about twenty miles south of Roseburg. Hog 'Em, Starve-out and Tennessee 
gulch are south of the canyon. Placer gold has also been discovered and mined on 
Coffee creek, a stream which empties into the South Umpqua twenty miles above 
Canyonville ; on Olilly, a branch of Looking Glass creek ; on Poorman's creek near 
Canyonville ; and on Myrtle creek. Mining is now being quite extensively pursued 
along Cow creek, where the hydraulic process is being used to some extent. There are 
no data by which the amount of gold obtained from these mines can be ascertained, but 
it is very considerable, the most of them having yielded largely when first discovered. 
They are all surface diggings, and having been carelessly worked, have for the most 
part been abandoned to the Chinese, who undoubtedly work them with profit. 

Quicksilver is another mineral to be found in Douglas county, and for several 
years the cinnabar ore has been worked to advantage. In 1882 the firm of Todd, 
Emerson & Co. made a run of 100 tons of ore at their Elk Head mine, and took out 

51 



394 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

500 lbs. of quicksilver, besides which some 200 lbs. more remained in the condensers. 
They claimed to have an abundant supply of ore, their works passing through over 
thirty feet of paying rock. This company began work in 1880. The Nonpareil and 
Bonanza mines, both worked by the Quicksilver Mining Company, are in the vicinity 
of Oakland. Tellurium, also, is being mined by the Tellurium Mining Company, 
which has been at work several years with good success. Copper and nickel are found, 
but no mine is being worked. Valuable deposits of lime rock and cement also exist. 

The item of coal must not be omitted in detailing the bountiful gifts nature has 
bestowed upon this region. Coos county, adjoining Douglas on the west and south- 
west, is almost a solid bed of coal beneath the surface, and this broad expanse of car- 
boniferous veins extends far into Douglas county. Coal also exists in the Calapooia 
mountains. No effort is being made to develop this great resource in this county, but 
it lies there ready to yield up its treasure to those who seek it. With the most dili- 
gent and extensive working of these mines the fields would remain inexhaustible for 
centuries to come. 

The most permanent, reliable and available source of wealth Douglas possesses, is 
her winding valleys and fertile soil. Here thousands of people have built their houses, 
and here they draw from the willing earth the food that supports many thousands 
more. Though small in proportion to the whole area of the county, the total of valley 
and bottom lands amounts to many thousands of acres. The valleys have, in the main, 
long since been cleared of obstructing timber and subdued to the yoke of the plow, or 
fitted for the grazing of sheep and cattle, There is, however, much bottom land, and 
some valleys somewhat remote from the usual routes of travel, which can still be located 
upon by those seeking homes. When the land has been denuded of its enormous store 
of trees, the flats, hills and bottoms become valuable for the crops they will raise or the 
herds they will support. The soil is good ; no other could support the immense growth 
of trees and shrubs. It is mostly a dark mould derived from the decomposition of 
vegetable matter, as leaves, roots, trunks of trees, and their admixture with earthly 
ingredients, carried sometimes by the floods upon low lands, or by the force of gravity 
from higher elevations. A sort of rich, red loam is frequent, a gravelly soil of less 
productiveness covers large tracts, and sticky clays, of various colors and appearances, 
are often found. Quite to the top of high hills the best of soil is found, and few locali- 
ties are so sterile as to be unable to produce grass sufficient for the support of sheep or 
stock. Wheat, oats, barley, corn, flax seed, vegetables, etc., produce in abundance. 
Potatoes and other root crops are of superior quality. The Umpqua basin is the only 
portion of Oregon lying west of the Cascades, except Rogue River valley, where corn 
can be produced in quantity and quality to make it profitable. The season of 1883 
was a phenominally dry one, the total rainfall at Roseburg being but 22.48 inches, 
while in June, July and August but .05 of an inch fell. Notwithstanding this fact 
the grain crop of this region was a large one, many fields yielding from thirty to thirty- 
five bushels of wheat to the acre in fields as large as 100 acres. 

The sheep and wool of the Umpqua valley are the most celebrated of Oregon, and 
Umpqua fleeces command the highest price in the San Francisco market of all that reach 
the city from the Pacific coast. It was several years after the settlement of Umpqua 
valley before sheep were introduced in considerable number. The Applegates, of Ump- 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 395 

qua, were the first to enter upon wool growing, and from the flocks of Charles Applegate 
many of the later sheep owners obtained their start. The sheep of this flock 
were without pretentions to purity of blood, were a hardy, useful, good framed 
and tolerably well wooled lot, shearing about four pounds of medium lengthed 
wool to the fleece, and may be taken as a fair type of the average sheep. 
From the Willamette valley and from California importations were made at 
times, varying much in quality. From the former region came the splendid flock of 
of merinos owned by T. Smith, a very prominent and successful wool grower and once 
president of the State Agricultural Society. The improvement of sheep engaged more 
and more attention as time passed. Some few merino rams were introduced before 
1800, but in that year came Rockwell, a noted importer, breeder, and more than all, 
seller of stock sheep. His coming is not yet forgotten in Douglas, at least among the 
sheep men. He brought a flock of merino rams for which he found a ready sale at 
prices ranging from $300 to $700. Few were proof against his persuasive powers- 
Among others, mechanics, men who had not an ewe to their names, bought his $500 
rams. It was an astonishing revelation of the power of the Yankee tongue, cultivated 
by study and practice, on the susceptible western imagination. The theme of sheep- 
raising became a bucolic poem in his honeyed mouth ; merino wool and moral eleva- 
tion, heavy fleeces and eternal happiness seemed for the time insuperably connected, 
and the mesmeric trance of the listening subject generally ended by his finding a ram 
in his pasture, and his note for $500 in Rockwell's pocket. Some of these sheep did 
good service. Those purchasers who found on recovering their normal condition that 
they had no use for their rams, sold them at much reduced prices to those who had ; 
and although many of these sheep died during the first or second year, yet they left 
an improved progeny. Since that time the most notable importation of merino stock has 
been that of the McLeod flock, by Smith and Walton ; but, although some of these 
sheep were fully equal to the Rockwell lot, the Scotchmen, not having the financial 
dexterity and persuasive power of the Vermonter, was content to sell them at one-tenth 
the price. The prominence here given to merino stock is because the desire for 
improvement has taken this direction. Of late years a number of flocks of long-wool 
sheep, especially the cotswold, have been introduced with good success, though the 
reputation of Umpqua w T ool still rests upon its splendid merinos. 

Formerly, Douglas was a great stock county, but gradually pastures have disap- 
peared before the plow, and cattle have given way to grain ; still, the stock interests ox 
the county are considerable. Durham and Devon cattle are the prevailing breeds, 
though a few Jerseys have recently been imported, a few of pure blood and the others 
crossed. Cattle thrive best when fed through the winter season, though they can pick 
their own living in the foothill ranges. The excellent winter pasturage, affording grass 
for the cattle at a season when the stock of the eastern dairy regions are living upon 
hay renders the Umpqua valley especially adapted to dairying. The blood of draft 
horses in the county has been undergoing a process of improvement for a number of 
years by breeding to imported Percheron stallions. 

As a fruit region, the Umpqua valley shares with the Rogue river region the honor 
of producing the finest quality and greatest abundance of Oregon fruit. Apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and grapes grow in profusion. In the line of small 



896 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

fruits, especially strawberries, Douglas county rules the Portland market. The first 
settlers found j)lums and raspberries growing wild in the greatest luxuriance, and time 
has shown how well the soil that sustained them was adapted to the cultivated varieties. 
Transportation facilities play an important part in developing the natural resources of 
any region. Douglas was, until four years ago, but poorly provided with means for 
sending her products to market. She now is better situated and expects soon to be even 
more favored. The route to the sea, by the way of Gardiner, involves hauling by 
wagon to Scottsburg and transfer to steamer at that point. For a number of years 
Roseburg was the southern terminus of the Oregon & California railroad, but that line 
has been extended south, and now passes through the whole length of the county, from 
north to south. A project of much importance is well advanced, and that is the con- 
struction of a road from Roseburg to Coos bay, passing by way of the Coquille through 
the heart of the vast timber and coal regions of Douglas and Coos counties. The con- 
struction of a railroad line to some harbor on the coast, accessible to deej) water vessels, 
has long been regarded as the one thing needful for the Umpqua valley. A project 
to build such a line to Port Orford was at one time well advanced. After a number 
of years of slow progress, the Roseburg and Coos bay road seems now in a fair way to 
early become an accomplished fact. This region will then enjoy a short and cheap 
means of communication with the sea, with all the palpable advantages of such a facil- 
ity. The population, products and general wealth and prospects of Douglas county 
will, beyond question, be largely augmented during the next four years. 




nlm- 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY. 

Condition of this Region when the Provisional Government was Organized— First Knowledge of Douglas Coun- 
ty—Sir Francis Drake and his Pilot Morera— Bartolome Ferrelo in 1543— Cape Blanco and Rio de Aguilar — 
Legend of a Spanish Vessel in the Umpqua — Disaster of Jedediah S. Smith— Fort Umpqua Built by the 
Hudson's Bay Company— First Organization of Counties in this Region — Early Settlements— Towns Founded 
Along the Umpqua — Umpqua County Organized— Douglas County Organized— County Seat Contest— Ump- 
qua and Douglas Consolidated — Subsequent Events. 

At the time when the few American settlers who had gathered on this far western 
frontier, knowing not yet to whom this fair country belonged, and feeling the absolute 
need of some form of government for the protection of society, for united defense in 
case of an attack by the aborigines, and for all those purposes for which governing 
authority is necessary even in such a primitive state of society, organized the Pro- 
visional Government of Oregon, there were then no American settlers living within 
the limits of the present county of Douglas. The only representatives of the Caucasian 
race living south of the Calapooia mountains, were the few white employees of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, stationed at Fort Umpqua, just opposite the mouth of Elk 
creek, and the members of trapping parties belonging to that great corporation, trap- 
ping along the streams of that region and Northern California. The fertile valleys 
which are now the abode of civilization, whose surrounding hills echo the ringing 
invitation of the church bell, where the school house door stands open and the smoke 
curls upward like an incense to heaven from the chimney-tops of a thousand happy 
homes, were then occupied by a race of savages. The fertile fields which now reward 
the husbandman's toil with bountiful harvests of grain, knew not the uses of the plow; 
seed time and harvest came and went unheeded. Nature had dealt lavishly with this 
fair land, and upon her bounteous gifts these simple natives depended for their suste- 
nance. Their food was the wild game of the forest, roots, grass seeds, nuts, berries, wild 
fruits and fish. They were children of nature, and nature had to provide for their 
wants unaided. The extent of their own providence consisted of laying in a store of 
each thing in its season, to be used when nature was resting from her labor and recu- 
perating her energies for another effort. This much had they learned from sad experi- 
ence, but little more. Forty years have wrought a mighty change, how great the 
following pages fully show. The Indian has disappeared before the irresistible advance 
of a superior race ; the fittest has survived ; the lesser civilization has vanished. It is 
all in accordance with that great rule of evolution and steady development towards 
higher and better forms by which the whole universe is governed ; and no one, seeing 
the great results accomplished, can fail to say that it is best. Even the few survivors 
of the lower race, gazing upon the blossoming fields which once belonged to their 



398 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

ignorant ancestors, though the iron enters their soul and they mourn the decadence of 
their people, sadly admit that the result was inevitable and was so ordained by the 
Great Spirit. 

There is much uncertainty as to the knowledge of the Oregon coast possessed by 
the early SjDanish explorers. From their reports it seems that in nearly every instance 
when, indeed, they reached as high a latitude at all, they remained out of sight of 
land from Cape Mendocino to Vancouver island. It thus happened that the extreme 
northern coast was explored and its details marked upon the maps with approximate 
correctness long before the character of the coast line of Oregon was understood, and 
before the mouth of the Columbia was discovered Spain and England were involved in 
a quarrel at Nootka, on the Island of Vancouver, many leagues further north. 

It is possible that Douglas county contains the soil upon which rested the first 
Caucasian foot that ever was set on the Pacific coast of the United States. In 1578, 
Sir Francis Drake, that great English freebooter and scourge of the Spanish com- 
merce, who was knighted by his queen for being the most successful jurate of his time, 
ravaged the Pacific colonies of Spain and plundered and burned her ships. Accord- 
ing to Spanish accounts, though English narratives of his adventures are silent on the 
subject, Drake made his first landing on the northern coast in the vicinity of the Ump- 
qua. Here he entered a " poor harbor" and put ashore his Spanish pilot, Morera, 
leaving him among savages who had never before snen nor heard of a white man, to 
perish at their hands or by starvation or exposure while making his way through 
3,000 miles of unknown wilderness to Mexico. It was an act to be expected of such 
a reckless sea rover. Morera seems to have accomplished this wonderful journey, 
since from him only could the account have come, provided the whole story is not an 
invention of early Spanish historians, whose opinion of Drake was little better than oi 
the father of all evil himself. 

Though Drake was the first to make a landing on the coast, he was not the first to 
see it from the deck of a vessel. In 1543, Bartolome Ferrelo, in command of two 
vessels dispatched by the Mexican Viceroy, coasted as far north as lattitude 43° or 44°, 
though no effort was made to land or to explore the details of the coast. In 1603, 
Ensign Martin de Aguilar, in command of a small Spanish fragata, explored the coast 
of this region. Torquemada, in his history of this voyage, says: " On the nineteenth 
of January, the pilot, Antonio Flores, found that they were in the latitude of 43 degrees, 
where the land formed a cape or point, which was named Cape Blanco. From that 
point the coast begins to turn to the northwest ; and near it was discovered a rapid and 
abundant river, with ash trees, willows, brambles and other trees of Castile on its banks, 
which they endeavored to enter, but could not from the force of the current." In 
lattitude 42° 52' is Cape Orforcl, so named by Vancouver. Cape Arago, called Greg- 
ory by Captain Cook, lies m latitude 43° 23\ and the cape named Blanco may have 
been Orford or Arago. The river was probably the Umpqua, though it is within 
the limits of possibility that Rogue river is the one referred to. It would seem, how- 
ever, that they passed Cape Blanco and continued up the coast some distance, else they 
could not have known that it turned to the northwest, and came upon the Umpqua. 
The discovery of this river created considerable interest in Spainand led t3 some pecu- 
liar geographical speculations. The Colorado river had been explored many miles 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 395) 

northward, and this led to the idea that these two great rivers united at some indefinite 
point in the interior transforming, California into an island. It was so indicated on 
many maps of the seventeenth century, while others, even as late as the discovery of 
the Columbia, had marked upon them a large river flowing from a vast distance in the 
interior and entering the ocean about latitude 43°, which was called Aguilar's river. 

The papers of Southern Oregon have several times published a statement to the 
effect that Spanish history records the discovery and christening of the Umpqua as 
having occurred in 1732. The substance of the story is, that a Spanish vessel became 
disabled by severe weather at sea and sought for a port on the coast where it could 
enter and make needed repairs. The mouth of the Umpqua was observed, and this the 
vessel entered, ascending to near the site of Scottsburg, where the anchor was made fast 
and the work of repairing began. Many large trees were cut down, and it is asserted 
that their decayed stumps were observed by the first settlers, who were informed by the 
Indians that many long years ago a vessel came up the river and the people on board 
had beards and white faces, and they cut down these trees. As the stumps at that 
time were upwards of a hundred years old, they must have been in a tolerably good 
state of preservation to have attracted the attention of the settlers. The story goes on 
to say that the Indians called the stream Un-ca, meaning river, and from this sprung 
the present name. 

Careful investigation fails to reveal any authority for the above story, while on the 
contrary there are many evidences, of a negative character to be sure, which throw dis- 
credit upon it. For many years before and after the date mentioned no explorations 
of the coast were made by Spanish vessels or those of any other nation; yet it is possible 
that one of the Spanish merchantmen from the East Indias, which usually first reached 
the coast south of Cape Mendocino, may have been blown out of her course and entered 
the Umpqua in distress, as stated. If this had been the case, however, and the river 
named as -related, then Spanish charts would thereafter have had indicated upon them 
the Umpqua river ; but such was not the case, for the only river marked in this region 
on Spanish maps was the one discovered in 1603, and invariably named Rio de Aguilar. 
It is difficult to understand upon what authority this story of the discovery and naming 
of the Umpqua rests, and it may well be doubted until better evidence is produced. 

From that time until 1827, the Umpqua appears to have remained unknown. 
The great Northwest Company and Hudson's Bay Company oocupied the disputed 
territory of Oregon many years before they explored Southern Oregon. Their busi- 
ness lay to the east, and north of the Columbia. In 1827, Jedediah S. Smith, a partner 
in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, entered Oregon from California at the head of 
a party of American trappers. The circumstances attending this expedition have been 
given at length on pages 118 to 121. The scene of Smith's disaster is located variously 
as on Umpqua river near the coast, on Smith river, which serves in its title to perpet- 
uate the event, and on various streams further south. Just where it occurred is uncer- 
tain. From that time trapping parties of the Hudson's Bay Company roamed 
through this region and set their traps on its numerous streams. So great was the 
trade which sprung up with the natives that the great company established a fort on 
the Umpqua a few years later, which served for many years as the headquarters for 
the business in this region. The post was called Fort Umpqua, and stood on the bank 



400 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

opposite the mouth of Elk creek. This was the outpost of civilization in Southern 
Oregon. This post was finally abandoned in 1862 and the site is now an immense grain 
field. Nothing remains to speak of former days but an aged apple tree, which was 
bearing fruit when the first settlers arrived. 

The first division of Oregon into districts for purposes of election and local gov- 
ernment, was made July 5, 1843. At that time all of Oregon south of Yamhill river 
and west of the Willamette, and a supposed line running due south from its head- 
waters to the California boundary, was designated Yamhill district. All south of 
the Anchiyoke and east of the Willamette and the supposed line as far as the 
Rocky mountains, was called Champooick district. By this arrangement Douglas 
county was cut into two nearly equal parts. The population of these two dis- 
tricts was confined to the region north of the Calapooia mountains, all south of 
the divide, as well as that vast stretch of unoccupied and almost unknown country lying 
between the Cascade and Rocky mountains, was tacked on to these districts simply be- 
cause the boundaries of the territory comprehended them, and it was necessary to 
include them within the limits of some district. Extensive as they were, and impor- 
tant as they subsequently became, they were then of no political consequence whatever, 
and it mattered little to what district they belonged or how they were designated. 

On the nineteenth of December, 1845, the territory was again subdivided. 
Southern Oregon was again cut into two parts by the continuation of a line south from 
the Willamette, the western portion, or Yamhill district being bounded north by 
Tuality river and Champoeg district by the Clackamas. Three days later a statute 
was passed changing the name district to county. On the same day the county of Polk 
was created from Yamhill, its northern boundary being nearly the same as at present 
and its southern limit the California line. This was done because of the increased 
number of settlers in the upper end of Willamette valley. Two years later the popu- 
lation of that section had so increased that two new counties were created. The act of 
December 23, 1847, confined Polk to its present limits, and erected all south of Polk 
and west of the middle fork of the Willamette and its production to the California line, 
into a new county called Benton. Five days later Champoeg county, the name of 
which had been changed to Marion, was curtailed, and all south of the Santiam and 
east of Benton county, clear to the summit of the Rocky mountains, was made the 
county of Linn. In 1846 a party of fifteen men from the Willamette valley explored 
the Umpqua region, commanded by Major Thorp. Among them was Philip Peters, 
who settled on Deer creek in 1851, where he still resides. No immediate settlements 
followed this exploring tour. 

This was the condition of Douglas county when it was first invaded by citizens of 
the United States in search of a home ; divided in its allegiance between the counties 
of Linn and Benton, named in honor of those two sturdy giants of the United States 
senate who had fought so long, so earnestly and so successfully for the rights of our 
country in Oregon, and occupied only by the representatives of that great English cor- 
poration which had rendered the battle necessary. It was in June. 1846, that the 
explorers of the southern emigrant route [see pages 148 and 304] passed through the 
county, but it was not until the spring of 1848 that the leader of that party, Captain 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 401 

Levi Scott, left his former home in the Willamette and settled in Scott's valley, on Elk 
creek, not many miles from the Hudson's Bay Company's post. At the same time his 
two sons, William and John, settled near by in Yoncalla valley, as did also Robert and 
Thomas Cowan. The next year Jesse Applegate, J. T. Cooper, John Long and — 
Jeffery settled in the same neighborhood. Prior to all these settlements was that of 
Warren X. Goodell, who located a donation claim on the site of the present town of 
Drain, in the year 1847. 

In 1850 travel to and from the California mines increased, and pack trains with 
loads of goods began to be seen on the trails. The number of settlers materially 
increased, especially in the upper end of the county, the majority of the newcomers 
being from the Willamette valley. Captain Scott went down the Umpqua and laid out 
the town of Scottsburg, as a supplying point for the upper country. 

There were accessions also from the south, by way of the sea from San Francisco- 
The map of Fremont's explorations, which was the one upon which all Americans 
relied for their information in regard to Pacific coast geography, indicated the Klamath 
as issuing from Klamath lake, and entering the ocean in the vicinity of Rogue river, 
the two streams being confounded by the great " Pathfinder." The excitement about 
the Trinity mines and the discovery of gold on Klamath river and its affluents, coupled 
with the knowledge gained from dear experience that the Klamath was not navigable, 
led a number of men to look still further north to the Umpqua as being a river which 
could be entered, and on the banks of which could be founded a city which would be 
a base of supplies for the mines of Northern California. These men organized under 
the name of Winchester, Payne & Co., and dispatched the schooner Samuel Roberts 
up the coast in command of Captain Coffin, the expedition being in charge of Peter 
Mackey. They passed the Klamath and came to the mouth of Rogue river, and sup- 
posing it to be the Umpqua, Mackey landed with two of his party. They were quickly 
surrounded by Indians, who evinced a hostile intent. The men endeavored to reach 
their boats with the purpose of returning to the vessel, but the savages interposed, 
crowded around them and pulled their clothing, buttons, etc., in an exceedingly impo- 
lite manner. The three men stood back to back in the center of the crowd of savages, 
partially defending themselves by pushing their insulters away or knocking them off 
with their revolvers, not daring to shoot for fear of the consequences. Seeing their 
precarious situation, Captain Coffin moved the vessel closer in shore and discharged a 
cannon loaded with nails, in such a manner as to have the contents cut through the 
trees over the heads of the savages. The noise and effect were so novel and terrifying 
that the Indians fled in a panic to the seclusion of the dense forest. The men then 
went aboard, and the schooner continued its voyage up the coast. The Umpqua river 
was reached in due time and safely entered. This was the first American vessel to 
enter the Umpqua, and possibly the first vessel of any kind, in spite of the traditions 
about a Spanish ship having done so more than a century before. 

After a hasty exploration of the river, the party returned to San Francisco with 
glowing accounts of the Umpqua, and its adaptability for a port of entry for goods, 
and travel to the mines of Northern California. Winchester, Payne & Co. immedi- 
ately fitted out another schooner, the Kate Heath, and dispatched it to the Umpqua 
with a party of 100 men, headed by Winchester himself, and containing many men 



402 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

who have since been closely identified with the development of Southern Oregon, 
among them being A. C. Gibbs, later governor of the state. The object of the expe- 
dition was to select suitable town sites at favorable points for the transaction of business, 
to have them laid off in lots which were to be divided equally among the members of 
the company, and to ship to San Francisco timber to be used for piling, for which there 
was then an urgent demand. The Kate Heath sailed in September, and soon entered 
the mouth of the Umpqua. 

As they crossed the bar they were surprised to observe the wreck of a vessel, 
which had but recently run upon the sands. This was the Bostonian, which had been 
dispatched around Cape Horn by a Boston merchant named Gardiner. The merchan- 
dise with which the vessel was loaded was under the charge of George Snelling, a 
nephew of Gardiner. In endeavoring to enter the river the Bostonian lost the channel 
and was wrecked upon the bar. By much labor the crew managed to save the bulk of 
the cargo, and this was taken up the river a few miles and sheltered beneath a canvas 
covering made from the sails of the stranded ship. The place thus occupied was 
named Gardiner, in honor of the owner of the ship and goods, and on the same spot 
now stands the town of Gardiner. 

At the entrance of the river, on the north bank, Winchester, Payne & Co. laid 
out their first town, which was christened Umpqua City. They passed up the 
stream, finding the shipwrecked Yankees in camp at Gardiner. At the mouth of 
Smith river a number of men were landed, who began getting out piling timber to be 
shipped back to San Francisco upon the return of the vessel. The others continued up 
the river to Scottsburg, where they found Captain Levi Scott already in possession "of a 
town site. They laid out a town adjoiuing his location and embracing a tract gener- 
ously donated by him for that purpose. This was the portion of Scottsburg called 
the " Lower Town," which succumbed to the power of the flood in the winter of 
1861-2, and is now a sandy waste. A number of the party went up the stream to Elk 
creek, and laid out the town of Elkton, while Mr. Winchester secured a fine location 
still further up the Umpqua, where he founded a town upon which he bestowed his 
own name. 

Winchester and' the others then returned to the mouth of Smith river, and the 
schooner was loaded with piles and spars for her return voyage to San Francisco. 
Meanwhile harmony had not prevailed in the company. A misunderstanding arose 
between Mr. Winchester and some of his associates. They refused to sail for a long 
time, alleging that the bar was too rough to be crossed in safety, and when the schooner 
finally arrived in San Francisco with her cargo the time of her contract had expired, and 
Winchester, Payne & Co. became bankrupt. The association dispersed, the town sites 
were abandoned and the great project came to an inglorious end. The subsequent 
history of Umpqua City, Gardiner, Scottsburg, Elkton and Winchester will be found 
on another page. 

Mr. A. R. Flint, a hale and hearty old gentleman of seventy-six years, a sur- 
veyor by profession and the first clerk of Douglas county, still resides in Roseburg. 
He thus speaks of his advent into the Umpqua region, and his experiences are given 
as an example of the many. Mr. Flint says : "In September, 1850, I came to Oregon 
to lay out the town of Winchester, on the North Umpqua river. While there I learned 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 403 

of the passage of the donation homestead act for Oregon, which induced rue eventu- 
ally to take a claim and consider Oregon as my future home. I returned to San Fran- 
cisco in the spring of 1851, and came back with my family in the first steamer that 
came into the Umpqua river. From the steamer we took an open boat to Scottsburg. 
From here the only means of travel was on horseback, on an Indian trail. On arriv- 
ing at Winchester we found John Aiken and family, and Thomas Smith, who together 
owned the ferry at that place. We were informed by them that there was not a house 
south of that place until we reached Sacramento valley in California. [A mistake, for 
Yreka and Scott river mines were then in full blast.] We located and built a small 
house there. While at Winchester I went out to see the location on which Roseburg 
is now situated. At that time there was an Indian rancheria near the river, on what 
is now the western part of the city of Roseburg. Mrs. Flint did not at that time have 
courage enough to locate among the Indians, so we abandoned the idea of taking for 
our future home the location which we have since made our home for the past twenty- 
five years." 

The increase of settlements along the Umpqua in 1850 led to the establishment 
of a county government for their benefit the following winter. The county seat of 
Linn w r as fixed at Albany, and that of Benton at Marysville, subsequently called 
Corvallis. These two counties were circumscribed to nearly their present limits on the 
south, while the region between them and California was apportioned between two new 
counties called Umpqua and Lane, the latter named in honor of the first governor, 
whose name appears so often in this volume. Umpqua county's boundary line began 
on the coast at the southwest corner of Benton, and ran east to the dividing ridge of 
the Calapooia mountains, followed the ridge to Calapooia creek and down that stream 
to its mouth, and thence west to the Pacific. All the remainder of Southern Oregon 
south of Benton and Linn belonged to the county of Lane. 

In April, 1851, the governor issued a proclamation designating Jesse Applegate's 
house in Yoncalla valley, Resin Reed's, Aikin's at Umpqua Ferry, and Scottsville 
(Scottsburg), as polling places for the election to select officers for the new county. 
The election was held on the second of June, and resulted in the choice of the following 
officers : J. W. Drew, representative; J. W. Huntington, clerk ; H. Jacquett, sheriff; 
A. German, treasurer ; A. Pierce, assessor ; B. J. Grubbe, J. N. Hull and William 
Golden, county commissioners. The total vote was seventy -eight. A. R. Flint received 
a large number of votes for representative, and Daniel Wells and E. R. Fisk were w T ell 
supported for clerk. 

The condition of that portion of the present county of Douglas is well described in 
the following extract from a letter to the Statesman, elated at Mt. Yoncalla, July 4, 1851. 
The correspondent says : 

" Our county [Uuipqua] is organized, the machinery is set up, and it will soon 
start. We need internal improvements very much, which it is supposed the new 
machinery will supply, but we ought not to expect too much. The roads leading to 
Scottsburg are as yet but trails and travelers' descriptions of them are prefaced with 
horrid oaths and violent imprecation. Elkton has as yet but a political existence, but 
is named as the site of the county seat. It is opposite Fort Umpqua, on the river. 
Claims are taken from here to the mouth of the river. Those east of Scottsburg team 



404 SOUTHERN OEEGON. 

with luxuriant grass, those below are overhung with luxuriant speculation of their 
future. As far up as Winchester claims are being improved. Twelve months ago, but 
two or three claims had been taken on the river ; now they are all taken. Scottsburg or 
Myrtle City, is at the head of navigation, but below it are many prospective towns, 
beautifully pictured on paper. There are two ferries on the Umpqua, and a road from 
Winchester to Scottsburg. Winchester lies on both sides of the Umpqua river about 
five miles above the forks, and is located upon favorable ground, thickly timbered. 
General Lane's claim adjoins it on the south. The city plot has been laid out in lots 
and is fast becoming a mart of trade. The main road to the Canyon passes through 
Winchester. Major Kearney is now exploring for a road east of this, and Jesse Apple- 
gate and Levi Scott are with him as guides. They are now near Table Rock on Rogue 
river." 

The year 1851, saw a marked change in the condition of this region. Many 
families came down from the Willamette valley while numerous emigrants came in 
direct from the east. Nearly every little valley received from one to half a dozen set- 
tlements. From the Calapooias to Rogue river could be seen every few miles the 
smoke ascending from the clay chimney of some pioneer's log cabin. The population 
became so numerous that a successful effort was made the next winter to secure a sep- 
arate county government for the region of the Upper Umpqua, and Myrtle, Cow and 
Canyon creeks. By the act of January 6, 1852, Lane county was deprived of all its 
territory south of its present limits, byjAre creation of Douglas county, a concurrent 
act, though not passed until the twelfth, establishing Jackson county to embrace all 
south of Douglas and Umpqua counties. 

As first created Douglas county's boundaries were as follows : Commencing at the 
mouth of Calapooia creek ; thence following said creek up its main fork to its source ; 
thence due east to the summit of the Cascade mountains ; thence running due south to 
the summit of the dividing ridge separating the waters of Rogue river from the waters 
of the Umpqua ; thence westerly along the summit of said ridge to the summit of the 
Coast Range of mountains separating the waters of Coquille and Cones (Coos) rivers 
from the Umpqua; thence northerly along the summit of said Coast Range to a point 
where the south line of Umpqua county crosses said range ; thence due east aloug the 
south line of Umpqua county to the point of beginning. Election precincts were 
designated at Resin Reed's in Winchester, at Knott's in the Canyon, and at Roberts' in 
South Umpqua valley. By the act of the seventeenth of the same month the county 
seat was located at the town of Winchester. 

A clerk and a temporary board of county commissioners were appointed for the 
purpose of setting the county machinery in motion. The first meeting of the board of 
county commissioners was held at Winchester on the fourth day of April, 1852. On 
this occasion F. R. Hill called the body to order and its organization was effected. 
Lots were drawn to determine the length of term, and J. E. Danford drew the shorter 
term, his official life expiring after the election to be held two months later, William F. 
Ferry's ending in the following year and Thomas Smith's in 1854. The first days' 
business of the board consisted mainly in granting licenses for the keeping of " groceries " 
— some four of which were authorized to transact business at an average rate of $50 per 
year. F. R. Hill was appointed sheriff of Douglas county, to hold office until the next 




' 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 405 

general election. On the following day the county was divided into precincts, six in 
11 umber, known as Calapooya, Winchester, Deer Creek, Roseburg, Looking-glass, 
Myrtle Creek, and Canyonville, precincts. These precincts were empowered to choose 
one justice of the peace and one constable, with the exception of the last named which 
was allowed two. In the interim the following named gentlemen were appointed to the 
justice-ships'. Calapooya, C. Barrett ; Winchester, Henry Evans ; Deer Creek, W. B. 

Skinner; Looking-glass, H. D. Bryant; Myrtle Creek, Burnett ; Canyonville. 

Messrs. Lockhart and Johnson. The minutes are subscribed by A. R. Flint, first 
clerk of the county of Douglas. The commissioners as well as the probate court met 
in a room over William' J. Martin's store, in Winchester ; and the district court, at its 
special terms was held in a room over J. E. Walton's store in the same village. The 
rental paid for each room was $3, per day while the same was in use. 

The election held the ensuing June for choosing a full set of county officers, was 
warmly contested, there being several candidates for every office but that of clerk. 
Douglas and ITmpqua were included in one council district and elected Captain Levi 
Scott to the council, his opponents being Felix Scott and J. W. Drew. The candidates 
for the other officers were as follows, the one first named being elected ; representative, 
E. J. Curtis and W. J. Martin ; probate judge, S. Fitzhue, H. C. Hale, S. B. Briggs, 
G. S. Chapin and S. Gardiner; clerk, A. R. Flint; sheriff, F. R. Hill, D. P. Barnes 
and F. M. Hill ; (error in ballots) treasurer, George Hannan, G. S. Chapin and Benja- 
min Grubbe ; assessor, C. W. Smith and Jesse Clayton ; coroner, C. Grover and W. K. 
Kilborn ; county commissioners, J. C. Danford, W. T. Perry, Thomas Smith, William 
Riddle, C. C. Reed, and W. H. Riddle. The total vote was 163. At the county elec- 
tion held a year later the number of ballots cast was increased to 306, or nearly double. 

Though Winchester was designated as the county seat and was the largest settle- 
ment within the limits of the county, it had a strong rival almost from the first. Four 
miles further up the Umpqua Aaron Rose had laid out the town of Roseburg, and 
being a wide-awake, energetic man, he began at once to secure for his embryo city the 
honors and advantages which accrue to a town possessing the distinction of being a 
county seat. Aided by the rapid increase of settlements to the south of Roseburg, 
Mr. Rose succeeded finally in securing the passage of the act of December 23, 1853, 
providing for the submission of the question of a permanent location of the county 
seat to be held on the second Monday in March, 1854. When the day of battle 
arrived, Mr. Rose invited the settlers of Looking-glass valley, who aspired to the pos- 
session of the coveted honor, to accept of his hospitalities. The enjoyment of his 
generosity so worked upon the feelings of the guests that they went in a body to the 
polls and voted in favor of Roseburg. The loss of the county seat was a sad blow to 
Winchester, which was already on the rapid decline as a business point, and a few 
years later the whole town was moved bodily to Roseburg, including the U. S. land 
office, which had been established there. 

In Umpqua county the county seat was not definitely located for several years. 
Court was held sometimes in Elkton and at other times in Scottsburg. In 1854 
James F. Levins surveyed a town site at Elkton, consisting of 160 acres, which he 
donated to the county for a county seat, and on the thirtieth of the next January an 
act was passed by the legislature locating the seat of justice at that place. Coos 



406 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

county was created by the act of December 22, 1853, out of the counties of Umpqua 
and Jackson, embracing all the land lying between the Coast Range and the ocean, 
and extending from a line eight miles below the mouth of the Umpqua to the Cali- 
fornia boundary. At the general election of 1855, the people of Douglas county 
voted unfavorably upon a proposition submitted by the act of the twentieth of the 
previous January, to annex the northern end of the county to Umpqua. By the act 
of December 18, 1856, Camas Prairie was detached from Coos county and annexed to 
Douglas. 

By 1862 Umpqua county had seriously retrograded. Scottsburg had lost its 
trade with the mines, and had faded away to a village, while Elkton had not succeeded 
in taking the place of the deposed metropolis. To maintain a county government was 
too burdensome, and the difficulty was relieved by the act of October 16, 1862, con- 
solidating Umpqua and Douglas counties, with the county seat at Roseburg. An 
amendment to the consolidation act was passed October 21, 1864, definitely fixing the 
-boundary line of Douglas county as follows : " Commencing at the mouth of the Siu- 
slaw, on the south bank; thence following up the south bank of said stream, to a 
point fifteen miles west of the main traveled road known as the Applegate road ; 
thence southerly to the summit of the California [Calapooia] mountains ; thence east- 
ward along the summit of said mountains to the summit of the Cascade range ; thence 
southerly along the summit of the Cascade range to the former corner of Douglas 
county ; thence continuing southerly along the summit of the Cascade range to the sum- 
mit of the dividing ridge between the headwaters of the South Umpqua and the 
waters of Rogue river ; thence westerly along the summit of said ridge to the summit 
of the Coast Range of mountains, separating the waters of Coquille and Coos rivers 
from the Umpqua ; thence in a straight line to the southwest corner of township 20 
south, range 9 west, of the Willamette meridian ; thence due north to the summit or 
divide between the waters of the Umpqua river and thoserunning to the ocean ; thence 
northerly or northwesterly along side summit or divide to a point due west of Loon 
lake, at the head of what is called Mill creek; thence in a direct line westerly to the 
coast at the mouth of Ten Mile creek ; thence northerly along the coast to the place 
of beginning." 

The next great local question in Douglas county was that of a division again 
into two distinct counties. The town of Oakland had grown up in the northern end 
of the county, and, backed by the settlers for miles around, who would find a county 
seat more convenient when located at Oakland than at Roseburg, made a strong effort 
to secure the coveted prize by the division of the county. An act was passed by the 
legislature on the sixteenth of October, 1868, providing for a special ballot on that 
subject at the general election to be held on the third of the next month. All north 
of the main fork of the Umpqua and a line running from the junction of that stream 
with the South Umpqua due west to the line of Coos county, was to be called Umpqua 
county, with Oakland as the county seat. At the same time the people of the 
proposed new county were to elect county officers, who should enter upon the discharge 
of their duties in case the vote of the whole county favored the division. The majority 
of the voters decided that such division was unnecessary, and Douglas county escaped 
the threatened division. On the twenty-first of October an act was passed submitting 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 407 

the question of the location of the county seal in that portion of the county which 
would still hoar the name of Douglas, and Roseburg, Myrtle Creek, Canyonville and 
Round Prairie were designated as candidates. This act was not to take effect if the 
vote of the county was unfavorable to the proposed division, and since that proposi- 
tion was voted down the question of a new county seat disappeared with it. 

By the act of October 19, 1878, the boundaries between Coos and Douglas counties 
were more closely defined, and again it was found necessary to designate these with still 
more minuteness by the act of October 16, 1882. The exact boundaries given by the 
statute are as follows : Beginning on the shore of the Pacific ocean, at the township line 
between townships 22 south and 23 south ; thence east along said line to the section line 
between sections 3 and 4 of township 23 south, range 10 west; thence south along said line 
to the south boundary of said township ; thence east to the northeast corner of township 
24 south, range 10 west ; thence south to the southeast corner of said township ; thence 
east to the section line between sections 3 and 4, township 25 south, range 9 west ; 
thence south to the south boundary of township 26 south, range 9 west ; thence east 
to the southeast corner of said township ; thence south to the southeast corner of town- 
ship 28 south, range 9 west ; thence west to the section line between sections 3 and 4, 
township 29 south, range 9 west ; thence south to the south boundary of said township ; 
thence west to the southwest corner of said township ; thence due south to the summit 
of the ridge dividing the waters of Rogue river from the Umpqua, which is the south- 
east corner of Coos county. From this point the county line as it exists at present 
follows the old boundaries defined in the act of October 21, 1864. to the ocean at the 
mouth of the Smslaw. 

The growth of Douglas county has been one of steady development from the day 
when the first settlement was made until the present time. There have been no spas- 
modic changes, but the county has been gradually built up by the energy and persis- 
tent industry of the people. There was one era, however, which was marked by more 
rapid progress than any other, and that was the few years immediately following the 
construction of the Oregon and California railroad to Roseburg in 1872. The exten- 
sion of the road through the county southward has stimulated industry and business 
in that section, and the flattering prospect of a road to Coos bay is producing a similar 
effect throughout the countv generallv. The indications are that Douglas count v has 
entered upon an era of prosperity far greater than any before enjoyed, during which 
its population, wealth, business, and products of all kinds will be largely increased. 

The following statistics of the county's assessable property speak eloquently of the 
value and steadily increasing development of its resources. The total taxable property, 
which consists of the otoss assessed valuation less the legal deductions for indebtedness 
and exernjrtions, was as follows for the past thirty years : 1855, $908,456 ; population, 
587; 1856,1679,000; 1857, $454,796; 1858, $1,406,226; 1859, $1,570,690; 1860, 
81.398,752; population, 3,091; 1861, $987,108; 1862, $815,002 ; 1863, §1,057,156; 
1864, $1,420,602; 1865, $1,606,440; 1866, -81,423,504; 1867, $1,243,704; 1868, 
sl.476,500; 1869,81,474,500; 1870, $1,454,933; 1871, $1,550,995; 1872, $2,091,- 
933; 1873, 83,366,013; 1874, $2,745,520; 1875, $1,910,791; population, 6,147; 
1876, 81.862,045; 1877, 81,997,565, 1878, $2,042,275; 1879, $2,139,118; 1881, 
>2.419,750; 1882, 82,349,210; 1883, $3,087,564. The following summary of the 



408 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

assessment roll of 1883, gives a good insight into the present condition of Douglas 
county : 

DESCRIPTION. NO. TOTAL VALUE. 

Acres of land 504,366 $1,867,152 

Town lots 1,233 250,375 

Improvements 416,930 

Merchandise and implements 377^595 

Money, notes, accounts, shares of stock, etc 1,124,495 

Household furniture, carriages, watches, etc 120,020 

Horses and mules 4,211 162,370 

Cattle 5,428 131,060 

Sheep 117,753 180,745 

Swine 11,467 26,215 

Gross value of property $4,656,957 

Indedtedness $1,292,743 

Exemptions 276,650— $1,569,393 

Total taxable property $3,087,564 

Number of polls, collected 610 

" not " 962— 1,572 

The number of acres of land assessed in 1882 was 486,516, valued at $1,597,300, 

showing an increase in the assessed acreage of the county of 17,850 acres, and $269,- 
850 in valuation. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

ROSEBURG. 

Settlement of Aaron Rose — His Trading Post — First Called Deer Creek — Secures the County Seat — First 
Business Men — County Jail and Court House — The School House — Winchester Absorbed by Roseburg — 
Roseburg and Coos Bay Road — Arrival of the Railroad— Roseburg Incorporated — Burning of the Jails — Fire 
Department — Brick Buildings — Business Enterprises — Climate— Extension of the O. & C. R. R. — Roseburg 
and Coos Bay R. R. — Wool and Grain Shipments — Generosity of Mr. Rose — Churches and Societies — Needs 
of the City — Newspapers — Noted Men who Hail from Roseburg. 

\Then the northwest coast of the United States was little less than a howling 
wilderness and the strong handed pioneer was forcing the light of civilization onward 
to the western sea, Aaron Rose, a man of medium stature, iron will and nerves of 
steel, came journeying from the forests of Michigan, seeking a quiet home in Oregon. 
He left nothing behind him to attract his gaze from the setting sun. His family and 
effects were conveyed along with him in the usual prairie A r ehicle, moved by the usual 
steady, stubborn oxen. After many days of toilsome travel in crossing the Great 
American Desert, and climbing and descending the Rocky and Sierra Nevada ranges, 
when the Siskiyous were successfully passed aud the famous Cow creek canyon was in 
the rear, on the twenty-third day of September, 1851, he found himself looking with 
admiration upon the small valley at the junction of the South Umpqua river and Deer 
creek. 

Mr. Rose saw, here, the realization of his dreams and claimed, as a donation from 
the government, the land upon which Roseburg now stands. He built him a clap- 
board shanty of sufficiently ample dimensions, near the place where the center of the 
city now is, and engaged in selling to travelers, teamsters and packers, who were very 
numerous in those days, such things as they needed. He also engaged in the business 
of farming and stock raising. Uncle Aaron, as he is familiarly called, seems to have 
thrived and prospered well in his mercantile and other pursuits, notwithstanding the 
fact that he sometimes saved money by taking his customers' notes for less than half 
the amount they owed him — and he can show you some of the notes to-day, still unpaid. 
The Indians of the Umpqua and Calapooia tribes were all around him, but a friendly 
relationship always existed between him and them. He had one of them in his service, 
known far and wide as " Rose's Jim," who remained with him for years. The neigh- 
bors, within a radius of several miles, were few. W. T. Perry located on what is now 
known as the Bushy place, across Deer creek and just north of the city. Phillip 
Peters, still an active man, resided some six miles away, engaged in cattle raising and 
farming. Jesse Roberts, also cattle raiser and farmer, lived only a few miles away, 
and John Kelly worried the patient backs of his mules with the complaining pack 
saddle, and awoke the ready echoes with his lusty shout, in the immediate vicinity. 
There were others, also, but they were few. 

53 



410 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

In 1852, there was a considerable immigration to Douglas county, and Roseburg, 
or Deer creek as it was then called, began to assume somewhat larger proportions, 
since which time it has steadily grown, depending solely upon its natural advantages 

In 1853, Bradbury imported the first stock of general merchandise and opened 

the first regular store in Roseburg. His stock was ample and well selected, and his 
success marked. He was the fore-runner of a long list of successful merchants, some 
of whom are still in business here, while others are gone, and a few have ceased their 
labors forever. Mr. Rose lost no opportunity of advertising his proposed town,' and 
used both his energies and his means with a generous hand to encourage enterprising 
and wealthy men to make their homes therein. It is intimated that the immense 
majority by which Roseburg was chosen as the county seat of Douglas county in April. 
1854, was due to his hospitality and diplomacy, in some degree, at least. He donated 
three acres of land and $1,000 toward building a court house for the county, and the 
court house was built and the money expended under his direction. It was a wooden 
building and served its purpose for years, but, at this writing, is doing service as a store 
room and tinshop for R. S. and J. C. Sheridan. The county jail which accommodated 
the prisoners of those days was somewhat unique. It was built of logs, not handsome 
but secure. There was no door opening from the first floor, but the means of ingress 
was furnished by a trap door in the office of a justice of the peace who occupied the 
second story. Instead of sending the prisoners up, his honor was accustomed to send 
them down for so many days, and there was small chance of escape between the sen- 
tence and the execution thereof. It was from this house, and out of this trap door^ 
that Judge Lynch took the only man upon whom he ever passed judgment in Roseburg, 
and hanged him on the rafters of the Deer creek bridge. One day, however, this 
primitive jail was discovered to be on fire and about all that was saved were two white 
men and two Chinamen, all the occupants at the time. 

In 1855 began the Indian war, and Roseburg was the central point for the North- 
ern Battalion, which formed and procured its supplies here. About this time the town 
first began to be known as Roseburg. The population was steadily increasing, and 
houses thickly dotted the little valley and hill sides. Business was increasing and its 
future was secured. Uncle Aaron did not cease his efforts, but was always first in con- 
tributing to proposed improvements. He was always ready to donate lots to churches, 
and gave the land upon which our jmblic school building is now situated, and also 
$1,400 towards building the house. About 1857 the U. S. Land Office was built at 
Winchester — a two-story building which was afterward moved to Roseburg, bodily — and 
this excited the people of Roseburg to outdo the rival town by erecting a school house 
of grander proportions than the Land Office. They accordingly erected the three- 
story edifice which vibrates to the tread of their district school children to this day. 
It was more magnificent than necessary, but it fully satisfied their ambition and drew 
heavily on their purses. The two rival houses, one built at Winchester and one in 
Roseburg, some four or five miles apart, now gaze upon each other at a stone's throw, 
one used as an Odd Fellows' Temple and the other never changed. These were the 
finest buildings in Southern Oregon at the time of their construction. In about 1859 
Roseburg's attractions became so great that Winchester was not able to resist them, and 
was rolled over the intervening space, and the two bscame one. The Land Office, 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 411 

above mentioned, the store of Floed & Co., just as it appears to-day, with a little change; 
A. R. Flint's old store, now on Washington street, between Main and Jackson, and 
.Mrs. Moffit's residence, near the banks of the South Umpqua river, with others, were 
moved bodily from Winchester and placed in Roseburg, where they now stand. In a 
short time the once busy little town on the bank of the North Umpqua river had en- 
tirely disappeared, and it lives only in the memory of its former inhabitants and the 
pages of the county records. The music of the ringing anvil is hushed, the jingle of 
bar grasses and gold has ceased, the shrill cry of the hoodlum unheard, and the busy 
merchant no more presents his little bill on Monday morning, on the streets of Win- 
chester. In the years following, when the eastern and southern portions of our com- 
mon country were bathed in blood and convulsed with civil war, the fateful influence 
was strongly felt even in these outskirts of the world. During all this time Roseburg 
was the radiating center and headquarters of all parties. Men seemed to take a 
deeper interest in the issues presented, if that were possible, and talked louder and 
more threateningly, than did their brothers at the seat of war. But nothing retarded 
the steady growth of the future city, and all things conspired to build her up. In 
1869 steps were taken toward building a wagon road from Roseburg to the head of 
tide water on Coos bay, and a joint stock company was formed for that purpose. Like 
all enterprises, this one found favor in the eyes of some persons, and was denounced 
as impracticable by others. The opposition claimed, in this instance, that the road 
would never pay for itself on account of the large amount of money which would be 
required to build it They also alleged that nature had made a natural highway from 
Roseburg to the sea ; that the Umpqua river only needed a few thousand dollars ex- 
pended upon it to become a navigable stream for boats. The route to the seaboard, by 
way of the river, was, as has been related on page 385, demonstrated to be a failure, 
and the Coos bay wagon road enterprise moved on to success. Iron, giant powder, 
muscle and money, dug, blasted out, graded and paid for the present road to Coos City, 
which, though for a long time somewhat precarious and unreliable, is at last a success* 
and it is possible to ride very comfortably in a wagon over a fair mountain road from 
Roseburg to the sea. Most of the former stockholders in the road are prominent busi- 
ness men in Roseburg, and deserve the success which they achieved and the coin bene- 
fits which they received when, in the beginning of 1883, they sold their road, fran- 
chise, etc., to C. Crocker. In 1872 the most important event for Roseburg occurred 
Avlien the O. & C. railroad track was laid across her boundaries. It was not a question 
whether the railroad should come through Roseburg or not. It was bound to come, on 
account of the lay of the land. While the finishing of the railroad to this point was 
a matter of vast importance to the town, the ceasing of the work at her gates was no 
less so. Up to that time Roseburg had been only a way station on the O. & C. Stage 
road, and the commerce of the county amounted to very little, or nothing, all told. 
Very little grain was raised except for flour, feed and seed, and the wool clip was 
greatly smaller than it has since become. The only means of transportation were the 
heavy wagons usually drawn by horses or mules, over a mountain road to the Willam- 
ette valley. The beautiful and fertile valleys in which Douglas county abounds, lying 
secluded among her magnificent hills, were used principally for stock range, when 
their possibilities were much greater. She was, as it might be said, a perfect electrical 



412 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

machine, complete in all its parts, with the poles of her battery not joined. But when 
the iron rails were laid and the shrill whistle of the locomotive waked the echos in her 
.mountain fastnesses, the connection was made and all the machinery felt the influence 
and moved in perfect harmony. Roseburg became a center of commerce for the country. 
Warehouses were built at the depot, and the granaries and wool rooms became more 
and more crowded each year, until the first warehouses became too small and had 
to be increased or replaced by new and larger ones, with all the modern improvements 
for preparing produce for the market. Jackson and Josephine counties received! their 
goods, wares and merchandise at Roseburg, thus increasing the business of the city and 
helping to swell the tide of her prosperity. 

Roseburg was incorporated by the act of October 3, 1872. At the first election, 
which was held the eleventh of the same month, the following officers were elected: 
Trustees, C. Gaddis, afterward chairman ; George Haynes, S. Hamilton, William I. 
Friedlander, and T. P. Sheridan ; Recorder, Andrew Jones ; Marshal, L. C. Roden- 
berg ; Treasurer, E. Livingston. The taxes of the city have never been burdensome 
— not over three mills — and the ordinances passed by the boards are salutary, compre- 
hensive and not oppressive. As is true of all young towns, so it happened that the 
houses of Roseburg were nearly all built of wood, and the majority of them remain so 
to this day ; yet losses by fire have been remarkably infrequent. Not a half dozen 
fires have been known where any considerable damage has been done. We have 
already mentioned the first jail, which succumbed to the fire fiend. The one which 
was erected to replace it was also destroyed by fire. This was built of brick, with 
iron cells for prisoners, and stood southeast of the present court house. Several times 
prisoners effected escapes from it. In the spring of 1882, a man had been incarcerated 
therein, having committed some petty offense, and was awaiting his trial. One morn- 
ing, just about daylight, the jail was discovered to be on fire, and a crowd soon col- 
lected to render what assistance was possible to the poor fellow within the iron walls. 
It appeared, however, that the fire had been raging within for some time, for the 
building was so hot that no human being could approach near enough to even see 
what had happened on the inside. All that could be done was to stand at a respect- 
ful distance and wait for the fire to complete its work. Later in the day, when the 
roof, floor, and other woodwork had been consumed, and the blackened walls sur- 
rounded the curled and twisted sheets of iron of which the cage had been composed, 
an entrance was effected. Nothing resembling a human form could be discovered, but, 
just at the bottom of the iron door, and immediately under an opening therein, was a 
small heap, which, upon examination, proved to be all that was left of the recent 
prisoner. He had escaped, and all that remained to indicate that he had been there 
was a crisp and blackened lump which would hardly have been taken for what it was 
in any other place or under any other circumstances. What was left was decently 
buried by the county, and the place which knew him last, knows neither him nor the 
old jail any more forever. The jail which the county has at present is an elegant 
little two-story brick building, with the most approved, impregnable cells, and an 
airy corridor running around. It is both comfortable and safe. On the upper floor 
are offices, neat and well ventilated. The county court house, a substantially built 
and commodious and conveniently arranged structure stands on the same block. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 413 

Though there never has been a devastating fire in Roseburg, yet, until last year, 
there had been no fire company of any possible efficiency in the city — a few ladders and 
buckets constituting the only available apparatus for extinguishing fires. The fire 
fiend had every opportunity for glorious work, but did not seem disposed to take it- 
In the spring of 1883, however, steps were taken to organize a fire company, and, on 
the tenth day of May, the Board of Directors passed an ordinance creating the fire 
department for the city of Roseburg. There are two companies composing the depart- 
ment — the Rescue Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, and the Umpqua Hose Com- 
pany, No. 1. The city has built a large reservoir on the hill east of town, some 150 
feet higher than the houses, and laid iron pipes therefrom clown Washington street to 
Marks & Co.'s building, with occasional hydrants at convenient points. It has also 
procured several hundred feet of hose, and provided, at large expense, a handsome and 
thoroughly furnished hook and ladder truck. 

In a city which is mostly comprised of wooden buildings, it is not amiss to briefly 
mention those more subtantially constructed. The first brick house in Roseburg was 
built by Mr. T. P. Sheridan, in 1859, to be used for a store, and is still owned by 
members of the same family. It is 20x40 feet, two stories high, and is situated on the 
east side of Jackson street, between Douglas and Washington. It was considered a 
wonderful building at that time. The second was built by Dr. S. Hamilton, in the year 
1866, at the southeast corner of Washington and Jackson streets. In 1874, was completed 
the brick house where the postoffice still is, and built by H. C. Stanton, who still occupies 
it. Next in order came the handsome iron-front brick of S. Marks & Company, in 1878, 
situated on the northwest corner of Washington and Jackson streets. It is 36x100 
feet, two stories high, and cost about $20,000. Next came Dr. Hamilton's new drug 
store, adjoining his former one, built in 1878. Then came the elegant cut-stone-front 
brick store of Abraham, Wheeler & Co., built in 1879, on the southwest corner of Oak 
and Jackson streets. The dimensions of this block are 45x90 feet, and two tall stories 
high — the largest in the city. Mr. E. M. Moore put up a single story brick store for 
Caro Bros., next to the postoffice, in 1880. Last, but not least, in importance, was the 
Douglas County Bank, on the east side of Jackson street, in 1883. 

There are, taken all together, seven general mercantile houses, two hardware stores 
each having a tin shop attached, two flouring mills, three hotels, one bank, three black- 
smith, shops, two drug stores, four variety stores, two jewelers, three millinery shops, 
two butcher shops, two livery stables, two cabinet shops, three grocery stores, two 
restaurants, twelve saloons, two barber shops, two bakeries, six physicians, two dentists, 
ten lawyers, one foundry, one brewery, one photograph gallery, two shoe-maker shops, 
one marble cutter, and several wash houses. The above is not a bad record of business 
for a city containing but one thousand inhabitants, all told. The United States Land Office 
is at Roseburg. It was moved, as before remarked, from Winchester in 1859. The 
old land office building still stands under an immense willow tree, on the north side of 
Douglas street, between Rose and Jackson. In 1879 the land office was removed to its 
elegant quarters in the brick block of S. Marks & Co., and the old building is valuable 
for little else, now, than a relic of bygone days. The officers who have presided in the 
land office are as follows : L. F. Mosher, Register, and Colonel Martin, Receiver ; John 
Kelly and Mr. Briggs ; W. R. Willis and B. Hermann ; W. R. Willis and J. C. Fuller- 



414 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

ton. All of whom, except one, are no longer connected with the office. The present 
officers are Hon. W. F. Benjamin and Hon. J. C. Fullerton, both of whom are affable 
and competent gentlemen. The United States Signal Office was established in 1876, 
and placed in charge of Sergeant John Dascomb. Sergeant J. J. Nanery is now in 
charge. The barometer is just 537 feet above the level of the sea, and an inspection of 
the records there shows the following entries for 1883 : Mean of highest observations 
of barometer, 30.052; mean of lowest, 28.839 ; annual mean, 29.539. Mean of highest 
thermometer readings during the year, 93° ; mean of lowest; 9.4 ; mean for the year 
51.8°. Total rainfall for "rainy" Oregon during 1883 was 22.48 inches. [For previous 
years see page 300.] We challenge the world to show a more salubrious climate, a 
more desirable range of barometer or thermometer, or more favorable conditions ge n- 
erally for health and happiness. Aaron Rose could not have selected a more favorable 
place for a city. The Post office is in the brick store of H. C. Stanton, the post master. 
In the spring of 1882, the Oregon & California Railroad Company began the 
extension of their road south, and it was not many months before the terminus at Rose- 
burg was a thing of the past. In 1883, however, the company built a three-stall round 
house just south of the depot, and made this the end of a division. The Oregon and 
California stage, with its six milk white steeds, and heavy loads of freight, mail and passen- 
gers, and the lumbering freight wagons, with their long teams of horses and jingling 
bells, are now but a memory in Roseburg. While it is true that Roseburg 
has lost the extreme Southern Oregon trade, it is generally believed that what she 
has lost by the extension is a small affair, compared to what she will gain by the build- 
ing of the Roseburg and Coos bay railroad, which, it is predicted, will, at least, be com- 
menced the present year. We join them in the hope that the prediction may be veri- 
fied. The depot building, and depot warehouses — and we hope the company will soon 
give a better depot — and four large private warehouses are on the depot grounds. They 
are owned by the estate of J. C. Floecl, the Grange Business Association, Abraham & 
Company, and S. Marks & Company. Immense quantities of grain and wool are shipped 
from these warehouses yearly. In the year 1883, which was not an extraordinary 
year by any means, the following amounts were shipped : 

Wool — lbs. Grain — bu. 

Grange Business Association 291,088 55,000 

S. Marks & Co 162,822 45,703 

Abraham & Co 120,000 25,000 

Total 573,910 125,703 

When the rich bottom lands of Douglas county shall be farmed on scientific prin- 
ciples, even larger warehouses will be needed at Roseburg, and the above large figures 
will be multiplied. This, of course, does not represent the entire exports from Rose- 
burg, but will suffice to indicate how the commerce has grown from the barter of Uncle 
Aaron Rose, in his clapboard shanty. The old gentleman has never ceased to give to 
objects which might be a benefit to Roseburg. He gave the depot grounds to the rail- 
road company and the right of way over his land, and sold them, for a song almost^ 
gravel to ballast their road. Long ago he moved from his first location, and now occu- 
pies a neat and comfortable little cottage on the top of an eminence south of town ? 
from which the whole valley can easily be seen. He has ample means to live easily 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 415 

and no longer worries himself with the cares of business. May his declining years 
continue to flow gently and peacefully on until they mingle with timeless eternity. 

There are five church edifices in the city — the Methodist Episcopal South, on 
Washington street, between Rose and Stephens ; the Roman Catholic, on Washington 
street, north of Main ; the Episcopal, on Main street, between Washington and Oak ; 
the Methodist Episcopal, on Main street, between Oak and Lane ; and the Presbyterian, 
on Rose street, south of Oak. 

Umpqua R. A. Chapter No. 11., was organized September 10, 1874, agreeable to 
a petition of the following named Royal Arch Masons: Thomas H. Cox, G. M. Stroud, 
Asher Marks, John Lehnherr, Louis Belfils, N. P. Bunnell, Thos. J. Beale, J. J. Corn- 
stock, A. G. Brown ; when the following named companions were empowered to 
act as the Chief Officers: T. H. Cox, as H. P. ; A. G. Brown, as K. ; N. P. Bunnell, as 
S., the temporary organized Chapter continued its labors until May 25, and at the June 
session of the Grand Chapter, a charter was granted, and in September of the same 
year the Grand Chapter officers convened in Roseburg, and in due form organized and 
consecrated Umpqua Chapter, and the following were elected as the principal officers: 
Thos. H. Cox as H. P.; N. P. Bunnell as K.; Thos. J. Beale as S.; H. Abraham as T. ; 
W. I. Friedlander as Sec. Up to that date 24 members were enrolled. The Chapter 
now has 50 members. 

Laural Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M., was chartered June 18, 1857. First officers : 
John Dillard, W. M. ; James J. Patton, S. W. ; James Odle, J. W. ; C. P. Stratton, S. 
The present officers are: Binger Hermann, W. M.; A. A. Engles, S. W.; R. M. Davis, 
J. W.; J. P. Duncan, Sec. The present membership is 51. Meets Wednesday on or 
immediately preceding the full moon of each month. 

Union Encampment, No. 9, I. O. O. F., meets on the first and third Tuesdays of 
each month. 

Philetarian Lodge, No. 8, I. O. O. F., was organized by Samuel E. May on the 
ninth of February, 1859, with Rufus Mallory, J. H. Choyuski, J. Q. Vanderborlo, 
Joel Thorn, C. Gaddis and E. S. Kearney as charter members. The first officers were : 
Rufus Mallory, N. G. ; J. Q. Vanderborlo, V. G. ; C. Gaddis, Sec. ; Joel Thorn, 
Treas. The only one of these gentlemen now residing in Roseburg is Mr. Gaddis, and 
he also assisted in the institution of Chemeketa Lodge, No. 1, the first to be organized 
in Oregon. The present membership is thirty, and the officers for the current term are : 
A. C. Marks, N. G. ; W. H. Moore, V. G. ; E. G. Hursh, Sec. ; L. Belfils, Treas. 

Roseburg Lodge, No. 16, A. O. U. W., was organized August 5, 1880, by Warren 
S. White, of Portland, with thirteen charter members and the following officers : J. M. 

F. Brown, P. M. W. ; J. W. Strange, M. W. ; P. Benedict, G. F. ; C. W. Castle, O. ; 
R. N^wcomb, Reed. T. ; S. Roademan, Fin.; Henry Gates, Recv. ; C. Y. Benjamin, 

G. ; J. F. W. Sanbert, I. G. ; S. B. Higley, O. G. ; J. M. F. Brown, M. E. The pres- 
ent membership of the lodge is forty-five. 

Roseburg Lodge, No. 387, I. O. G. T., was organized September 8, 1882, by Dr. 
E. Jessup, G. W. C. T., with twenty-four charter members. The present officers are : 
W. F. Owens, W. C. T. ; Mrs. A. Jones, W. V. T. ; H. S. Strange, W. S. ; P. Mat- 
thews, W. F. S. ; Mamie Jones, W. T. ; A. W. Slemmons, W. M. ; W. P. Webb, W. 
C; C. Gaddis, D. D. 



416 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Douglas county District Lodge, I. O. G. T., was organized by Will C. King, G. W. 

C. T. January 23, 1884, with fifteen members, and the following officers : H. Rogers, 

D. C. T. ; Mrs. B. A. Cathey, D. V. T. ; W. F. Benjamin, D. S. ; H. S. Strange, D. 
F. S. ; Lillie Moon, D. T. ; H. P. Webb, D. C. ; Robert Cheshire, D. M. 

Having enumerated the industries carried on in Roseburg, it may not be out of 
place to mention one or two very desirable possibilities. There is a sore need of con- 
venient water facilities, both for fire and for domestic and business purposes. The wells 
are too warm in summer and catch too much surface water in winter. The South 
Umpqua flows by upon the west and Deer creek comes sparkling out of the hills on the 
east. An engine in the one or a hydraulic ram in the other would furnish the city 
with an unlimited supply of j)ure and pleasant water. Yet no one has taken the nec- 
essary steps to accomplish either result. Immense quantities of wool are annually 
shipped from Roseburg, manufactured in other places and brought back in the form of 
blankets and cloth. This is altogether unnecessary, for a splendid dam has been thrown 
across the South Umpqua just south of town, and would, for a small consideration, fur- 
nish ample power to drive innumerable spindles and looms. But nobody seems dis- 
posed to furnish the spindles and looms and the power is lost, except the small force 
which drives the wheel of the flouring mill. There is no place where such business 
ventures might be followed to more certain success than in Roseburg. 

The first newspaper started in Roseburg was the Umpqua Gazette, about 1860 — a 
Democratic, Breckenridge and Lane sheet, which made the campaign of that year 
lively. It was followed by the Ensign, a Republican journal, in 1868. The papers 
which are known and remembered to-day are the Plaindealer, inaugurated as a Demo- 
cratic sheet in 1870, but fell into the hands of Republicans in 1874. It still remains 
a Republican journal of the straightest sect. The Independent was the organ of the 
party of that name in 1874. It continued to be supported by former Independents 
for some time after the party was practically disorganized, but, in 1882, was sold to 
some Democratic gentlemen and brought into line for that party. It still advocates 
Jeffersonian principles. There never has been in Roseburg a spicier, newsier sheet 
than the Democratic Star, inaugurated by Flett and Mosher, in the year 1877, and 
continued afterward by Floed & Mosher. But it was wrecked upon a ledge of bank- 
ruptcy, and its type and material were added to the stock of its former opponents. 
There have been sporadic sheets, generally dailies, and usually the evidences of warm 
opposition or political enthusiasm. Their young lives were invariably crushed out 
before they had attained sufficient importance to demand a place in history. 

Roseburg is proud of her sons who have gone forth from her gates to battle with 
the world. She has very seldom had occasion to do aught but glory in their victories. 
Their names are well known. First of all, she was proud of General Joseph Lane, 
though he was a warrior, in every sense of the word, before Roseburg was dreamed of 
But he hallowed Roseburg with his presence for many a year, and she will ever keep 
his memory green, though his noble old head has bowed to the behest of Death and 
lies resting away the weariness of life in the tomb prepared under his own observation. 
Of her sons, Rufus Mallory taught school in Roseburg and studied law there under 
Ex-Governor S. F. Chadwick. The record of these men is too well known to burden 
the reader by repeating it, as are those of Mosher, Lane, Gibbs, Stratton, and Watson. 
They, and others, have all reflected great credit upon their mother city. 



33 
m 

en 

a 
m 

2 

n 

a 
-«i 

in 



x 

D 



a 

2 

a 

m 
m 

za 
m 
m 



< 

o 
a 

c 
«n 

r- 
C3 

a 





iP^l 




CHAPTER L. 



LOCALITIES SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF ROSEBURG. 

Looking-Glass— Flournoy — Happy Valley— Ten-Mile— Camas Valley — Civil Bend and Dillard— Myrtle Creek 
Missouri Bottom— Cow Creek Valley and Riddle— Glendale. 

Lookixg-glass is the name of an important locality lying west and southwest 01 
Roseburg, and some ten miles distant. The name is applied to a creek, the valley and 
the small post-office town. The Roseburg and Coos bay road passes through the valley, 
and the village lies at the junction of that road with another which runs- down the 
valley. The village is situated in section 36, township 27, range 7 west. The valley 
lies mainly in that township and in township 28, and includes quite a large area of 
cultivable land lying upon the creek, which, including its main branch, the Olalla, 
is -ome thirty miles long. The Looking-glass jiroper, rises in the mountains north- 
west of the village, in the western part of township 27, and flows southeastwardly to 
the South Umpqua, emptying into the latter stream some eight miles south of Rose- 
burg. The course of the Olalla is from the south, uniting with Looking-glass a mile 
or two from the village. Looking-glass valley, or prairie, as it is occasionally styled, 
obtained its name as follows : In 1847 a company of men was organized in Polk 
county, near the Luckiamute, to explore Southern Oregon. Colonel Ford, H. B. 

Flournoy, Thorp, and others belonged to this band. Going as far south as Rogue 

river, they returned ; and traversing this valley they were impressed with its beauty, 
and Mr. Flournoy remarked that it looked like a looking-glass, upon which it received 
its present name. The greater part of the valley land is good, producing regular and 
certain crops. Northwest stands Mount Arrington, 4,900 feet high, one of the most 
prominent peaks of the Coast Range, and so named by Evans, a geologist who visited 
the countrv in 1853. The first white settler in Looking-glass vallev was Daniel 
Huntley, who came in the fall of 1851. During the previous year H. B. Flournoy 
had settled in the romantic and lovely valley which bears his name, and these two 
were almost the only residents of a considerable tract of country. The latter possessed 
the distinction of being the first white settler west of the South Unipqua river. Later 
came Milton Huntley, Joseph Huntley, Robert Yates, J. and E. Sheffield, who settled 
in Looking-glass in 1852. By the fall of the next year nearly the whole valley was 
covered by donation claims. There are nine sections of level jilow land in the valley, 
all of which was taken up. The country west of the South L T mpqua and embracing 
Lookino-.o-lass, Olalla, Ten Mile and Camas suffered considerablv in the Indian wars. 
In 1855 there was a body of Umpqua Indians living on Looking-glass creek, three 
miles below the present village of Looking-glass. They numbered sixty-four persons, 
and were supposed to be under the care of J. M. Arrington. On the breaking out or 

hi 



418 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

hostilities to the southward, the settlers of the Looking-glass began to observe symp- 
toms of uneasiness among the Indians, and determined to strike the first blow them- 
selves. They organized themselves, and attacked the camas-eaters, killing eight of 
them, and drove the remainder to the mountains. These fugitives afterwards joined 
the hostile tribes on Rogue river. The attack was made October 28, 1855. Joining 
the other Indians, these now ill-disposed and perhaps justly revengeful savages came 
back with a strong party the following December, and burned houses and destroyed 
property from South Umpqua to South Ten Mile, where they were stayed in their 
work of desolation. The settlers uniting and being joined by volunteers from various 
localities, met the aborgines and fought what is known as the Battle of Olalla. In this 
affray James Castleman was wounded, it being the only casualty sustained by the 
whites, while the Indians lost one of their principal men, Cow Creek Tom, and seven 
or eight more died of wounds received in the fight, according to the Indians' own 
account. This fight took place on the land now belonging to W. R. Wells, Esq. The 
result was a complete rout of the Indians and recovery of the stock that they had cap- 
tured. Later, on the twelfth of April, 1856, a company of " minute men " was organ- 
ized, by authority of the proclamation issued by Governor George L. Curry on the 
eleventh of March. The company was organized at the school house in Looking-glass, 
and contained the following members : David Williams, captain ; William H. Stark, 
first lieutenant; William Cochran, first sergeant; Privates, James M. Arrington, John 
P. Applegate, Willis Alden, Samuel W. K. Applegate, John P. Boyer, Levi Ballard, 
William Cochran, Roland Flournoy, Samuel S. Halpain, John H. Hartin, Nathaniel 
Huntley, Daniel Huntley, Joseph Huntley, Alex. M. Johnson, Fred Mitchell, Hilry 
A. Mitchell, Franklin Mitchell, Edmund F. McNall, Ambrose Newton, William H. 
Stark, Abbott L. Todd, Franklin White, George W. Williams, David Williams, Jeffer- 
son Williams, Milton H. Williams, Peter W. Williams. 

The village of Looking-glass was laid out in the spring of 1873. The proprietors 
of the land were P. W. Williams east of the main road, and H. Crow and Isom Cran- 
field on the west side. The first building erected was a store built by the firm of 
Hirschfield and Zelinsky. In August, 1876, W. Cochran bought this store and has 
retained it ever since. After the store followed a blacksmith shop, owned by Wiley 
Pilkington, a wagonmaking shop by J. H. Hopkins, a hotel by Mrs. C. C. Brown, then 
a two-story school house, twenty-six by sixty feet in size — a very creditable building. 
The upper story contains a large hall used by the Grange and Good Templars, and by 
various sects and societies. The Good Templars still keep up an active organization 
and have done a great deal to humanize and refine the neighborhood. Thanks to their 
influence but one saloon exists within the precincts of Looking-glass and that receives 
but faint support. Mirror Lodge, No. 57 I. O. O. F. was organized in Looking-glass 
June 3, 1876 by District Deputy Grand Master J. C. Fullerton. Officers: H. P. W T at- 
kins, N. G.; J. H. Hartin, V. G.; Hayman Zelinsky R. S.; William Cochran, Treasurer. 

Looking-glass now [1883] contains one store, dealing in general merchandise, 
two livery stables, one hotel, one variety store, one blacksmith shop, one wagon shop, 
a grist mill and fifteen or twenty residences. A daily mail adds to the conveniences 
of life. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY, 419 

In the vicinity of Looking-glass prairie there are the out-croppings of coal seams. 
Several of the seams have been explored to more or less extent, and in one or two cases 
promising results have been obtained. Half a mile west of Daniel Hunt's donation 
claim, and on section 4, township 28, range 7 west, a vein exists some twelve inches 
thick of an unexcelled quality. A short tunnel was run upon it and indications con- 
tinued to strengthen people's belief in the discovery of a paying seam. This however 
was not the earliest discovery of coal in that vicinity. Two of the best claims yet found 
were discovered nearly twenty years ago, the one by James Turner, the other by R. 
M. Gnrney. The former was at the time owner of the first saw mill built on Looking- 
glass creek. The vein was left untouched until a few years ago when means were 
taken to develop it. Coal of a quality suitable for the manufacture of illuminating gas 
is said to be furnished by this vein. Joseph Hojjkins took measures to work this vein > 
but the lack of sufficient capital to do so has thus far prevented development. Frank 
Headrick has undertaken the management of the Gurney mine, and seems determined 
to ascertain its true value. 

Floukxor — Two miles west of Looking-glass village and accessible therefrom by 
the Coos bay stage route lies Flournoy valley, a beautiful little vale of about 2,000 
acres, now owned by Messrs. Flournoy, Archambeau, Crow and Jones. The soil is 
very fertile and jDroductive, and is mostly sowed to wheat. Through this valley runs 
Flournoy creek, a branch of Looking-glass. The valley was named for its first occu- 
pant, H. B. Flournoy, who settled there in 1850. Besides the individual achievements 
of its early settler the valley possesses somewhat of renown derived from various circum- 
stances, more particularly in the Rogue river wars. Fort Flournoy is a wooden defensive 
work, built by the settlers in 1855 to protect the people of the vicinity against the 
savages, but never used as such. It still stands as a memorial of those troublous times, 
and may be seen now by the antiquary or the curiosity-seeker. It is built of hewed 
logs in the form of the block houses erected by our fore-fathers to guard against their 
vindictive neighbors, the Indians. Its size at the base is some sixteen or eighteen feet 
square, but after rising seven or eight feet the second story is considerably larger — 
twenty-six or twenty-eight feet square — projecting beyond the outside of the under 
portion. Loopholes provide opportunity for shooting downward upon opponents who 
may be engaged in forcing an entrance to the lower story. 

Happy Valley, is situated on the west side of Umpqua river in townships 27 and 
28, and ranges 6 and 7 west. It was settled in 1852, by four bachelors — H. Lord, J. T. 
Carey, Charles Vernon and another — four jolly fellows who gave it the name of Happy 
Valley. They were followed in 1853, by J. M. Arlington, Henry and Noble Saxton, 
S. H. Applegate, S. Minard, Wm. Cochran, Elias Capron, A. Ferguson, C. Lehnherr 
and D. Noah, of whom none but J. M. Arrington and S. Minard now remain in the 
locality. This valley is about five miles in length, and will average about one mile in 
width, is very fertile, and is bounded on the east by the South Umpqua, on the west by 
Looking-glass creek, and on other sides by mountains. 

Tex Mile. — Ten Mile valley is situated about sixteen miles from Roseburg, in a 
southwesterly direction. It is drained by two noted creeks, the Ten Mile and Olalla, 
the former running east and the latter north. Ten Mile valley averages one and a 
half miles wide. The two portions of the valley are usually distinguished by the 



420 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

names North Ten Mile and South Ten Mile, the latter being the valley of the Olalla. 
This latter name it may be observed is a subject of corruption. Some people, not 
renowned for philological skill, have called it O-lil-ly, with the stress laid upon the O. 
This, it appears, is the Indian for berries, which were said to be found in profusion on 
a small tributary of the stream. But the postal authorities, with that fine taste which 
distinguishes all of Uncle Sam's employes, called the post office on its establishment, 
Olalla, setting at defiance the principles of etymology, but producing, doubtless, a more 
satisfactory word. 

In the spring of 1853, says Mr. W. R. "Wells, there were four or five families 
settled in Ten Mile, and a few single men, making a total of not over twenty per- 
sons. These settlers were mostly in poor circumstances as to property, and for a time 
suffered many inconveniences. Not the least of these was the fear of Indians, which 
until the close of 1856 kept people in continual susj^ense. In the summer and fall of 
1853 several families came from the Willamette valley and settled in Ten Mile, and 
some eastern immigrants likewise came in, making a total of perhaps fifty inhabitants. 
The following winter was remarkable for the privations suffered by them, whose main 
dependence was wild game, which- then abounded. Beef, bacon and other essentials 
sold at very high prices ; flour cost fifteen cents per pound, and the wheat needed 
to seed the land cost four dollars per bushel. The crop of 1854 was slight , that of 
the next year was bountiful ; but just after the latter harvest the Indian troubles 
began. The natives made hostile demonstrations in December, first making an attack 
on Hiram Bice's residence, between Ten Mile and Canyonville, breaking Austin 
Bice's arm with a bullet. The settlers began immediately to take precautions against 
a surprise, putting themselves in a posture of defense, and gathering the necessary 
munitions of war to enable them to withstand the hostiles' attack. The enemy for 
some reason made no further attacks upon the whites, but passed on through South 
Ten Mile, burning buildings and destroying property. The fate of this band is 
recorded in the history of Looking-glass. 

The remaining history of the valley is less exciting. Settlers came in successively, 
occupied the land, utilized a portion of it, and made the region what it is to-day — a 
pleasant abiding place and a productive farming locality. Among the institutions 
built up by the community are the Methodist Episcopal church, of North Ten Mile, 
which was organized in 1858. Thomas Coats was class leader, and Thomas O. Olivant 
and John Olmstead were stewards. The society built a house of worship in 1869. 
The principal industries of the valley are farming and stock growing. Messrs. Wells 
& Ireland possess a grist mill, W. B. Wells keeps a store of general merchandise in 
South Ten Mile, and William Irwin conducts a similar establishment in North Ten 
Mile. About five miles above the former valley, and on Olalla creek, are certain gold 
mines, owned by Messrs. Wells & Castile. About three and a half miles from Olalla 
post office is the Davis gold mine, in which a two hundred and fifty foot tunnel is being 
or has been excavated. Fifty cents per panful of dirt were secured in prospecting. 
On Coarse Gold gulch John Fisher owns a claim said to be of value. 

Ten Mile, lying within the thirty mile limit, contains considerable railroad land, 
mainly useful for grazing and timber. Much of it is held by settlers who design pay- 
ing therefor and acquiring title as soon as possible. The oldest residents in Ten Mile 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 421 

are Messrs. W. R. Wells, K. B. Ireland, W. N. McCulloch, Thomas Coats, John 
Fisher, David McGuire, William Irwin, John Freeman, and John Byron, the latter 
of whom was the first settler in the valley. 

Camas Valley. — Camas valley, formerly known as Eighteen-Mile valley (being 
that distance from Flonrnoy's), lies in the extreme southwestern part of Douglas 
county. It lies at the head of the middle fork of the Coquille river, which drains the 
country round about. Camas valley is some seven miles in length and three in width? 
possesses a very fertile soil about 1,000 acres in extent, and has uncommon facilities for 
procuring timber. Some of the most productive ranches in Douglas county lie within 
this vale. Nearly all the valuable food products of the clime flourish in this out-of- 
the-way nook, and the inhabitants are self-supporting to a high degree. The first per- 
manent settlement in the valley was made by William Day and Alston Martindale, 
March 8, 1853, and both of these pioneers still occupy the donation claims which they 
then took up. In the same year came — . Patterson, C. B. Bawson and Jesse Dryer- 
A few others came within a year or two, among them Adam Day, but in 1856 there 
were but three women in the valley. These were the wives of Messrs. Day and Mar- 
tindale and the daughter of Adam Day. 

In March, 1856, an Indian raid took place. Coming into the valley by way of 
the trail leading from the Big Meadows, the savages burned the houses of William and 
Adam Day, drove off their stock and did other damage. A volunteer company was 
collected, and, pursuing the Indians, came up with them on the twenty-fourth of March, 
and had a running fight, wounding several of them, but failing to recover the stolen 
property. Previous to this the alarmed settlers had been obliged to gather in a stock- 
ade which was built of logs, and was about one hundred feet square. Here the non- 
militant portion of the community existed, the others sallying out in quest of the 
necessities of life. 

In Camas valley there is a sawmill owned by Messrs. Prior, Ferguson and Devitt 
It is upon the headwaters of the Coquille's middle fork, and is surrounded with excel- 
lent timber — fir, cedar, sugar pine and oak. It has a capacity of about three thousand 
feet daily. On Bear creek is another mill. This stream flows into Cedar creek, which 
in turn runs into Ten Mile, a tributary of Looking-glass. Messrs. Gurney Brothers 
own this mill, w T hich began work about 1880. It has a capacity of 10,000 feet daily, 
using chiefly yellow fir and sugar pine. 

Civil Bend and Dillard. — Along the south Umpqua stretches a very fertile 
tract of land which, commencing two miles south of Boseburg, follows the stream for 
nine miles. The part of this land lying near Green's station is rolling and nearly bare 
of timber. Grazing and farming are the main occupations of the residents, among 
whom are Jepthah Green, C. W. Smith, Henry Lander, Plinn Cooper, J. B. Spaur, J. 
F. Sheffield and C. Smith. The school district therein counts fifty-seven pupils. 
Across the river lies Civil Bend, a place said to have been named in irony. In this 
beautiful valley is Dillard's station, around which live a number of old settlers : Rev. 
J. Dillard, raiser of 16,000 bushels of grain in 1883; B. Agee; W. P. Winston, emi- 
nent as a horticulturist ; B. B. Brockway, J. M. Dillard, D. Lenox, V. Arrington, 
James Davlin and others. Two very neat and commodious school houses are provided 
for the hundred and ten pupils whose homes are in Civil Bend. 



422 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Myrtle Creek. — The land on which Myrtle Creek village now stands was first 
taken up by James B. Weaver, in 1851, and sold during the year to J. Bailey, the 
consideration being a yoke of oxen. In 1852 Mr. Bailey sold to Lazarus Wright, who 
in turn conveyed to John Hall, the latter transaction taking place in 1862. Three 
years later, in 1865, Mr. Hall had the present town site surveyed and divided into 
lots, of which several were sold, and buildings erected thereon very soon after. A 
store had been erected in 1856 by J. B. and J. W. Weaver, and in 1860 one Leneve 
started another store, keeping therein the postoffice. At present there are' two stores 
in Myrtle Creek, the one owned by Marks, Wollenberg & Co., built in 1870 by Abra- 
ham Selig ; the other, called the Farmers' Mercantile Establishment, of which F. M. 
Gabbert and H. Dyer have charge. There is a grist mill in the village, owned by W. 
Kramer & Co. This mill was built by Lazarus Wright. Its capacity is forty-five 
barrels of flour daily. The same firm owns a planing mill, which is attached to the 
grist mill. There are now two blacksmith shops, and a hotel, that of D. S. K. Buick. 
Since the railroad reached town a depot has been erected, and also a warehouse, the 
property of Messrs. Hall and Selig. School facilities were provided by the erection of 
a school house in 1864. The Good Templars organized a lodge January 17, 1883, 
electing the following officers : J. Elliott, W. C. T. ; Ellen Gabbert, W. V. T. ; Mrs. 
S. A. Elliott, W. C. ; H. Dyer, secretary ; Jennie Buick, W. A. S. ; W. P. Berry, W. 
F. S.: Ida Selig, W. T. ; J. M. Hutson, W. M.; The members now number forty-eight. 
The Odd Fellows instituted Myrtle Lodge, No. 38, in 1872, with J. M. Smith^ N. G.; 
John Hall, V. G.; S. Selig, R. S.; Hans Weaver, treasurer. At present the officers 
are Walter C. Buick, N. G.; J. J. Chadwick, V. G.; K. H. Gabbert, K. S.; John Nich- 
ols, P. S.; H. Weaver, treasurer; D. S. K. Buick, John Hall and J. J. Chadwick, 
trustees. The lodge is prospering finely, having now fifty members. A Rebekah 
Degree Lodge, organized in 1878 with twenty-five charter members, now has thirty, 
with the following officers : Mrs. S. Hall, N. G. ; Mrs. S. Selig, V. G.; Mrs. D. S. K. 
Buick, treasurer ; D. S. K. Buick, secretary. James Beans, George Risen, Joshua 
Wright and G. J. Kuns possess gold mines on the North Myrtle, some twelve miles 
from the mouth. The gold is thought to be plentiful. 

Myrtle creek derives its name from groves of myrtle in the vicinity, and the title 
belongs to the creek, valley and village. This valley's length is about five miles, and 
width about half a mile. It is drained by Myrtle creek, which forks at the village, 
one branch being known as North Myrtle, the other as South Myrtle. The valley is 
enclosed by lofty hills, estimated at 800 feet altitude near the village. Dodson's butte 
is the most prominent j>eak. The trees around the valley are mainly oak, but about 
five miles east of the village the heavy timber belt is reached which only ends at the 
top of the Cascades. These trees are mostly fir, cedar and pine. They exist in count- 
less numbers, furnishing an almost inexhaustible source of the best of timber. Mr. 
Felix Robinson owns a saw mill on North Myrtle, situated nine miles from the creek's 
mouth, which he built in 1872. It is driven by a turbine wheel, has double circular 
saws, and can cut about 5,000 feet daily. The amount of agricultural land is not 
very extensive, but it is of good quality, and is adapted to raising wheat, oats, barley, 
corn, etc. Horses, cattle and hogs are raised in considerable numbers. W. Kramer 
& Co. deal largely in swine, fattening at times about 500 head. Grain raising is not 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 423 

extensively done owing to lack of area. Corn produces well, Mr. J. Hull's field 
averaging fifty bushels per acre. 

The present condition of the locality is prosperous. The Oregon and California 
railway furnishing transportation, enabling the farmers to quickly market their pro- 
duce and receive returns. The most prominent farmers in and near Myrtle are Hans 
Weaver, Henry Adams, J. W. Weaver, Joseph Cornelison, J. J. Chadwick, John 
Arzner, Edward Weaver, Henry Jones, Henry Wiley, Jefferson Wiley, John Hall 
and others. No one is especially interested in fruit growing, yet many have fine 
orchards in which a considerable variety of fruits flourish. As regards the adapta- 
bility of the climate and soil to different species, it may be remarked that a lady, Mrs. 
W. B. Drake, of Myrtle Creek village, has cultivated, it is said, no less than 900 
varieties of flowering and ornamental plants, all succeeding admirably. In fact not 
one yet tried but has succeeded. 

Claims were taken on Myrtle creek as early as 1851, and in the following two 
years H. Jones, H. Wiley, G. Phillips, L. Phillips, H. Adams, and G. Milligan came. 
Another matter of history is the Indian troubles of 1856, when Indians made raids 
through the vicinity, burning and plundering. A few Cow Creek savages in the sum- 
mer of 1856 passed over the mountains west of Myrtle creek, then down the river to 
Oak Grove, where they attacked James Weaver and William Russell, wounding the 
latter. They then set fire to James Bean's buildings, destroying them, and proceeded 
to Clark's branch of the North Myrtle, where they wounded a man named Clink. 
They shot the stock of settlers, and created all possible damage. The circumstances of 
their attack on Messrs. Weaver and Russell are these : These gentlemen were coming 
from Roseburg, and while passing over the grade on the old military road just south 
of Oak Grove, they were fired upon by the hostiles. Plunging forward they suc- 
ceeded in making their escape, Mr. Weaver sustaining, no injury, while his less 
fortunate companion received seven wounds, some of which were very painful, but 
none fatal. A dozen Indians were in the party. 

Missouei Bottom. — Missouri Bottom is a sort of valley situated half a mile from 
Myrtle Creek. It derives its title from the fact of its first settlers being from the state 
of that name. It is five miles long and will average one-fourth as much in width, 
The surrounding mountains have no especial designation. They rise to commanding 
heights, the greatest elevation being not less than 1,300 feet, There is little timber in 
the valley, but the hills are covered with oaks and plenty of fir timber exists near by. 
The soil is chiefly a sandy loam, derived by deposition from the South Umpqua, which 
runs through the valley. This loam is very fertile, producing abundantly of cereals, 
vetables and fruit. The valley was settled in 1851 by H. Adams, John Adams. 
John Adams, Jr., J. B. Williams, and J. W. Weaver. At this time there was no 
house in Douglas county to the south of the North Umpqua, says Mr. H. Adams. 

Cow Ceeek Valley and Riddle. — The valley of Cow creek is about six miles 
in length by one and one-half in wddth, and its comparatively level surface is drained 
by the stream of that name, which flow r s into the South Umpqua, the latter stream run- 
ning along the east side of the valley. The surrounding elevations are known as the 
Cow creek mountains. The trees of the surrounding region are chiefly fir, pine, oak, 
cedar and madrone. The soil of the valley is chiefly a rich black alluvium, known as 



424 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

bottom lands, and is well adapted to general agriculture. Wheat, oats, corn, barley 
and all kinds of vegetables are prolific. There is considerable stock owned in the val- 
ley, a portion of which is of imported strains of pure blood. 

The name Cow creek is said to have been bestowed upon this stream because of 
the following incident : An emigrant named Baker was entering Oregon by the 
southern route, and camping one night near the site of Canyonville, the Indians stole 
his cattle. In the morning he set out in search of his lost stock, and soon found all 
but one peacefully grazing in this quiet valley. The missing one had tickled the pal- 
ates of the natives. The first settlers along Cow creek came in 1851, W. G. Hearn 
leading the van early in the spring and taking the first donation claim. The first 
family came the same s])ring, being that of William H. Riddle, followed soon by that 
of John Catching, Other arrivals of the year were I. B. Nichols and John Smith. 
By the close of 1852, nearly all the tillable lands were claimed. Other old-comers 
and prominent residents of the valley are : W. L. Wilson, J. Russell, Noah Cornutt 
Hardy Elliff, M. Dean, Watson Mynatt, Jefferson Dyer, Abner Riddle, G. W. Rid- 
dle, J. B. Riddle, J. D. Cornutt, G. W. Colvig and J. D. Johnson. 

In 1882 the Oregon and California railroad began extending its line south from 
Roseburg, and soon reached Cow creek. J. B. and A. Riddle donated land in the 
very heart of the valley for a town site, and a depot was located upon it. The little 
town which instantly sprung up was named Riddle (often called Riddleburg), and for 
several months remained the southern operating terminus of the road. During that 
time the place was " lively " in the broadest significance of the term, and its like the 
peaceful citizens of Cow creek valley hope never to witness again. With the extension 
of the road and the departure of the horde which infested the terminus, Riddle became 
more subdued, and has taken its proper position as a thriving village and shipping point 
for a small but very prosperous community. There are two hotels kept by J. B. Rid- 
dle and W. B. Wilson, the latter of whom has a stock of groceries, a store by J. D. 
Johnson, and a warehouse by S. Abraham. A steam saw mill has just been erected 
by Hans Weaver. There is one school house in which, also, religious services are 
held ; the Methodists, Baptists and Southern Methodists have church organizations. 
The Indians in the vicinity were known as the Cow Creek Indians, and spoke the 
Rogue River language. In 1853, subsequent to the hostilities of that year, a treaty 
was made with them by Joel L. Palmer, the agent, and General Joseph Lane, by which 
they relinquished all claim to the valley except the upper part for a residence, and 
the falls of the creek for fishing purposes, reserving the right to hunt in the mountains. 
For this they were given oxen and seed grain, with which they cultivated the ground 
to some extent the next two seasons. The little stream on whose banks this treaty 
was made is known as Council creek. In 1855 these savages joined the Rogue River 
hostiles, starting in December from the big bend of Cow creek upon the raid through 
Civil Bend, Ten Mile, Olalla and Looking-glass elsewhere spoken of. Their oxen were 
used for food by the volunteers, and the grain they had raised that year was fed by 
these militiamen to their horses. The settlers in the valley all "forted up" during 
the war, no attempt being made to disturb them, except in the case of John Catching. 
Him they attacked three times, and each time he purchased a temporary immunity by 
making them presents. In a few days his neighbors, who had been absent from th e 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 425 

valley, returned, and the savages withdrew. After the war the Indians were removed 
to a distant reservation, and Cow ereek was thereafter free from their dangerous pres- 
ence. Considerable mining of a diversified character is carried along Cow creek and 
in the vicinity placer mines owned by John Catching and W. L. Wilson have been 
extensively worked for several years. Lewis Ash and James McWilliams have a mine 
in which they are using a nine-inch hydraulic giant, fed by a ditch thirty-two inches 
wide and thirty-four deep. These mines are all yielding well. Copper is found on 
W. H. Riddle's place, and an iron mine is owned by 0. K. P. and J. W. Cain. A 
nickel mine is being worked with good results on a neighboring mountain called "Old 
Piney." 

Caxyoxville. — The town of Canyon ville has always been one of the most impor- 
tant stations on the Oregon and California stage road, and lies in the historic canyon 
which has so often been alluded to in these pages. The town lies at an altitude of 763 
feet above the level of the sea, and the summit of the Canyon mountains surrounding 
it is 1,850 feet, the highest altitude, that of Cany on ville peak, being 2,910 feet. Xear 
the town and extending along the river for several miles is a large body of excellent 
agricultural land, which has been cultivated successfully for many years. The soil is 
the rich alluvium peculiar to these bottom lands, and yields prolifically. Squashes 
exceeding 100 pounds in weight are not uncommon, and one reaching 142? pounds 
was raised by Hon. J. Fullerton. Wheat, oats, barley and corn are the staple products 
and all give a large average yield. The first settlers upon these fertile acres were 
John Fullerton, J. F. Gazley, S. B. Briggs, I. Boyle, and Mr. Beckworth, who all 
came in 1851, and who, with the exception of Messrs. Briggs and Beckworth, still 
reside here. 

In 1852 the site of Cany on ville was marked simply by a log house and a black- 
smith shop. . Jackson Reynolds was the first claimant of the land, and a man named 
Knott the second. Mr. Reynolds and Joseph Roberts purchased Knott's claim, and 
subsequently sold to Jesse Roberts. A town was laid out in 1858, and in 1863 S. 
Marks purchased the entire property at administrator's sale. Since then Canyonville 
has steadily advanced, two additions having been made to the town site. There are 
two mercantile establishments. William Manning is the successor successively of 
Marks, Sideman & Co., purchasers in 1863, Toklas, Baden & Co, and Riddle & Man- 
ning. The store occupied by H Wollenberg & Bros, was built by S. Abraham, who 
sold it to D. A. Levins. Mr. Wollenberg purchased it in 1883. He also has a ware- 
house and deals in grain. D. C. McCarty has a drug store, H. Caldwell a butcher 
shop, D. A. Levins, W. Worley and Mrs. Blackwood keep hotels, J. Nolancl, D. A. 
Levins and S. Thomas have feed stables, William Hackler, and Arzner & Bealman 
have blacksmith shops, and there are a hardware and tin shop, cabinet shop, and wagon 
shop. 

In Canyonville is a grist mill owned by A. F. Schultz, with a daily capacity of 
twenty-four barrels of flour. Near the town is another mill of twenty barrels' capacity, 
owned by D. A. Levins. On Canyon creek, three miles east of town, is a saw mill 
owned by Pickett & Wilson. It was built in 1873, and cuts 200,000 feet annually of 
fir and cedar, principally the former. Two miles further, the same stream also 



55 



426 SOTJTHEKN OREGON. 

furnishes power for another mill producing 300,000 feet per annum. This is the 
property of J. Packard. 

The region surrounding Canyonville is embraced in one school district which pos- 
sesses a school house. The Methodists have a church edifice, in which, also, other 
denominations hold occasional services. A dispensation was granted by the Oregon 
Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., in April, 1879, to organize a subordinate lodge at Canyon- 
ville, and a charter was granted in July. The lodge was organized by C. H. Merrick, 
Danton Hamblin, Charles Bealman, Charles Patchin, James E. Blundell, J. L. Arzner, 
L. D. Montgomery, and Thomas Wilson. Douglas Lodge, No. 19,1. O. O. F., was 
chartered May 12, 1866, with Joel Thorn, David Ransom, Danton Hamblin, Charles 
Kimmel, and J. L. Arzner as charter members. 

Glendale. — One of the new railroad towns of Douglas county is Glendale, situ- 
ated in the extreme southern limit of the county, ten miles southwest of the Canyon 
and forty-five south of Roseburg. It was laid out in the spring of 1883, on the 
pre-emption claim of L. D. Montgomery, the Oregon and California road having been 
constructed that far on its way south. Originally the town was called Montgomery, 
and later Julia, in honor of Mrs. Sol. Abraham, which title was first borne by the post- 
office. Glendale was first used by the railroad, and in consequence became the one by 
which it was generally known. During the few months it was the operating terminus 
of the road, Glendale was infested by a class of rough characters, which soon left it to 
follow the fortunes of new terminal points. Abraham, Wheeler & Co. opened the first 
store in May, 1883. Glendale is now a small but prosperous shipping and supply 
point, and a station of considerable importance on the road. 



CHAPTER LI. 



LOCALITIES NORTH, NORTHWEST AND NORTHEAST OF ROSEBURG. 

Cole's Valley— Umpqua Ferry — Hubbard Creek — Cleveland or Good's Mill — French Settlement— Oakland — Drain 
Winchester — Garden Valley— Myrtle Point— Yoncalla — Elkton — Scottsburg — Gardiner — Wilbur. 

Cole's Valley. — This pleasant valley is situated near the central part of Douglas 
county. It is bounded on the north by the Umpqua river and Mount Tyee, a name 
given this mountain by the Indians and meaning large or chief. This mountain was 
the resort of the Indians in time of war, as from it they could see much of the sur- 
rounding country. South of the valley is found the Woodruff mountain, a large mass 
of rocks, and west is the Coast Range, and east the Calapooias. The valley is divided 
by the Umpqua, which flows through it in a northwesterly direction. The soil is 
good ; wheat, even after long cropping, produces an average of twenty bushels per 
acre; oats and barley, thirty each; corn, from forty to sixty bushels. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 427 

West of Cole's valley lies a curiously rough and broken region nearly covered by 
a section of the Coast Range, termed here the Urapqua mountains. Upon this eastern 
slope, and intruding upon the western edge of Cole's valley, the almost unbroken sea 
of firs begins, which only ends at Coos bay and the shore of the Pacific. The timber ot 
the valley is mainly composed of oaks, maples and underbrush, and grows upon the 
elevations. A large amount of fine farming land is entirely free from trees and under- 
brush, and is very valuable and highly esteemed for purposes of general farming. 

The valley received its name from Dr. James Cole, who was the first settler, and 
who still resides near by. The doctor settled here in 1851, and began practicing his 
profession. The valley was then called the Big Bottom, but later received its present 
name. Following Dr. Cole came George Leeper and H. B. Flournoy, and later John 
Etnmitt, William Churchill, Samuel D. Evans and others. By the time of the Indian 
wars quite a number of people had located in Cole's valley, including several who still 
reside there. In those troublous times some alarm was experienced, but no hostilities 
actually took place in the vicinity. Everybody capable of bearing arms put himself 
in a posture of defense, but the cloud passed by without bloodshed. At present the 
valley is inhabited by a prosperous community of farmers, whose principal occupation 
is grain raising. Among these George Shambrook is chief as regards the extent of his 
agricultural operations, as he annually cultivates 800 acres. Messrs. John Emmitt, F. 
Fortin and L. T. Thompson also engage largely in wheat raising, plowing yearly 100 
acres or more. Pleasantly located in the northwestern part of the valley is a school 
house, where for six or seven months each year the pupils assemble. Sixty-five are 
enrolled. Mr. Thomas, the present teacher, an experienced and gentlemanly instructor, 
has taught in Cole's valley and its vicinity for over five years. 

Umpqua Ferry is the name of a village and post-office in Cole's valley. The 
post-office was established in 1873 with George Shambrook as postmaster. The name 
was changed for a time to Cole's- Valley post-office, but the original title was after- 
wards restored to it. Mr. Shambrook owns a store of general merchandise in the place. 
There is a blacksmith shop and once a gunsmith shoj) flourished, kept by Messrs. Barr 
Brothers. 

Hubbard Creek. — Hubbard creek is a good-sized stream which rises in the 
Umpqua mountains, runs northeasterly, and empties into the Umpqua just below 
Cole's valley. It is a beautiful and romantic stream, of the coolest and clearest of 
water, and wends its way through a densely wooded canyon between long spurs of the 
mountains. Some few clearings have been made along the quiet banks, and a small 
community of timber-cutters, shingle makers and woodsmen generally, live hereabouts, 
supporting themselves by their toil amid the forests. W. B. Clarke, with Baker, his 
partner, has a saw mill half a mile above the creek's mouth, where various qualities of 
lumber are made. Circular saws cut 6,000 feet per day in times of sufficient water ; 
planing machines and the usual turners and edgers complete the outfit. The mill is 
accessible over a rough road from the valley, which it supplies with lumber, mostly 
fir, used for fencing, house building, etc. Further up stream is a shingle mill. Above 
it still is found a very large amount of standing timber of excellent quality, mainly fir 
and cedar. 



428 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Cleveland, or Good's Mill, is situated upon the Umpqua river two miles below 
the junction of the North and South Umpqua, and four miles south of Cole's valley. 
It has a post office, general merchandise store and flouring mill, all kept by Mr. F. M. 
Good. The post office was established in 1875, at about which time the mill, a sub- 
stantial structure containing one run of buhrs, was built. Surrounding Cleveland is a 
belt of land mostly adapted to grazing but with some farming country on which several 
thrifty ranchers dwell. The locality is a pleasant one and is mainly watered by Mill 
creek, a small stream which runs through the village, rising in the Coast Range and 
running into the Umpqua. There is a school house located here, built in 1872. 
George B. Yale kept the first school. The district now has forty-eight pupils enrolled 
and the term of school is six months annually. 

French Settlement. — The community known as the French Settlement inhabits a 
tract of land belonging to Cole's valley precinct, and lying at the foot of the Coast 
Range, about eight miles northwest from Roseburg. The tract is bounded on the east 
side by the South Umpqua and surrounded on other sides by spurs of the Coast Range. 
The land is fertile ; grain of all kinds grows well and fruit attains remarkably fine 
flavor. The locality is protected by the heights of land surrounding it and in many 
ways enjoys high advantages. The entire tract is four miles by one and a half miles 
and is watered by a small stream known as Champagne's creek. The surrounding hills 
and mountains furnish feed for cattle and other domestic animals, while. the plow lands 
produce abundant and certain crops. 

Thomas Flournoy first settled in this valley in 1850, but soon abandoning it he 
was succeeded by A. B. Culver, now of Coos county. Within a year or two certain 
people of French extraction settled in the valley, giving it its present name. Their 
coming is thus accounted for ; Mr. H. B. Flournoy, returning from the California mines 
in 1851 induced a number of French Canadians to accompany him and settle in the 
valley adjoining that which goes by his name. The names of these people were 

Francois Archambeau, Joseph Champagne, Gouler and David Grenot. Mr. 

Gouler died about 1862. About a year after their arrival their numbers were increased 
by the coming of several of their fellow countrymen, Narcisse Laraut, Ferdinande La 
Brie, Charles La Pointe, M. M. Moran et Fozet and Ferdinand Fortin. Most of these 
gentlemen still reside within the settlement where they live honored and useful lives. 
All those named except David Grenot were Canadian French, the exception being 
European born. 

Oakland. — The thriving town of Oakland is situated on the line of the Oregon 
& California road sixteen miles north of Roseburg, and is one of the most prosperous 
communities in the county. Surrounding it is a large area of agricultural and grazing 
land, for which it is the shipping and supply point. There are two town sites, one of 
them, now known as the "Old Town," being the original business center. This town 
was situated in an oak grove, which inspired the title it bears. 

In 1851, Dr. Dorsey S. Baker, now a capitalist of Walla Walla, settled here and 
built a residence, store and grist mill. In 1857, he sold the mill and a greater portion 
of the land to E. S. Young, who still resides in Oakland. The same year Lord & 
Peters opened another store, and Mr. Whitmore built a hotel. Other settlers at that 
time were Messrs. Butler, S. Wheeler, — . Banks, J. L. Gilbert and others. Quite a 



DOUGLAS COUNTY 429 

town sprung up at Oakland, and, about 1860, a small school house was erected, which 
was supplanted in 1868 by the commodious structure now standing there. Oakland 
continued to grow until 1872, when a revolution was made in its affairs by the appear- 
ance of the Oregon ct California railroad, which passed some distance to one side of 
the town. A depot was located ami three of the four stores then doing business in the 
town — Crane & Pike, Abraham Bros., and Marks & Zelinsky — removed to the new 
location. Young A Vail remained in the "old town" until 1878, when E. G. Young, 
being sole proprietor of this store, also moved to the present town, which had then 
become a place of considerable importance. The mill still remains at the old location 
and is the property of Eubanks & Batty. It is operated by William Wheeler, and 
has a daily capacity of twenty barrels of flour. 

The present town of Oakland stands on parts of the donation claims of Resin 
Reed, Sr., and L. H. Crow. Crow sold to Thomas Banks and James Smith, who in 
turn conveyed to G. Mehl. Reed sold the north half of his claim to C. H. Bennett. In 
1871 A. F. Brown purchased all these claims and James Sterling's homestead of 240 
acres, and upon this land the railroad company located its depot. Oakland remained 
the terminus of the road for about six months, during which time it was an exceed- 
ingly lively place. The town has gradually expanded with the development of the 
surrounding country, and now contains three general stores, two hotels, one boot and 
shoe shop, one harness shop and livery stable, three churches, one academy, and a 
number of neat and comfortable residences. Chenewoth, Stearns & Co. occupy a brick 
building, which was erected in 1873 by J. E. Pike. The present firm purchased it in 
1883 from R. Smith & Co., successors of Mr. Pike. A warehouse and steam cleaner 
are used in connection with the store. The building occupied by A. F. Brown was 
built in the old town in 1869 by Abraham & Bros., and removed to its present loca- 
tion in 1872. Mr. Brown became a partner in 1875, and in 1883 became sole pro- 
prietor. He has a warehouse for storing grain and wool. The store of E. G. Young, 
tfc Co. was founded in 1868 in the original town by Young, Vail & Co. In 1872 Mr. 
Young purchased Mr. Vail's interest and in 1878 moved the building to Oakland. 
The firm deals largely in grain, and owns a warehouse. Taylor & Hall's hardware 
store was founded as a general merchandise store by Wheeler Bros., and was purchased 
by its present proprietors in 1879. J. H. Shupe opened a variety store in 1878, and 
in 1871 formed a partnership with Dr. J. C. Shanibrook, and embarked in the drug, 
grocery and notion trade under the firm name of J. H. Shupe & Co. Wells, Fargo 
& Co.'s express office is located in this store. The drug and variety store of Page & 
Dimick was founded by Venable & Nudley. In 1877 the firm became Page & Ven- 
able. The new store building was built by them in 1882. Subsequently Z. Dimick 
became a partner upon the death of Mr. Venable. G. B. Barr's saddlery establishment 
was opened in April, 1883. Wm. Moore is proprietor of the boot and shoe shop, 
John Beckley of the livery stable, and R. Thomas and J. Smith of the hotels. 

Until 1881 the old and new towns were comprehended in one district, since when 
they have been distinct. Oakland has no school building, but the public money was 
devoted to the Oakland Academy, where a public school is taught independently of 
the ordinary course. This institution was founded in 1880, by Prof. G. T. Russell, a 
graduate of Harvard. Three sessions are held each year, and three teachers are 



430 



SOUTHERN OREGON. 



employed, this number, upon occasion, being increased to five. There are five church 
organizations, which, in connection with the school and academy, indicate a high moral 
and intellectual standard in the community. The Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, and 
Episcopal denominations have church edifices, while the Presbyterians and Southern 
Methodists hold services frequently. 

The Masons and Odd Fellows each have organizations in Oakland. Winchester 
Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M., the first in the county, was organized August 1, 1857, at 
Winchester, with the following officers : L. F. Mosher, W. M. ; J. J. Patton, S. W. ; 
James Odle, J. W. ; W. J. Martin, Treas.; L. P. Brown, Sec. ; R. P. Daniels, S. D. 
The lodge was granted a dispensation to move to Oakland in the spring of 1860, where 
the first meeting was held on the first of March. In 1862 the charter was surrendered 
because nearly all the members had left the place to work in the mines. At that time 
D. C. Underwood was W. M. ; W. H. Brackett, S. W. ; R. C. Underwood, J. W. ; L. 
P. Brown, Sec. ; W. Hotchkiss, Tyler. In 1872, the grand lodge of Oregon granted 
a dis23ensation to organize Oakland Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M., and this was effected 
on the nineteenth of July, with officers as follows: A. F. Brown, W. M. ; J. W. 
Johnson, J. W. ; T. Barnard, Treas. ; J. B. Smith, Sec. ; C. D. Dearling, S. D. ; J. W. 
Howard, J. D. ; A. J. Chapman, Tyler, Stated convocations are held in the hall over 
Page & Dimick's store. The officers for 1883 were : R. Smith, W. M. ; William 
Stephens, S. W. ; D. W. Stearns, J. W. ; A. F. Brown, Treas. ; G. T. Russell, Sec. ; 
M. Partin, Tyler. Umpqua Lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F., was organized April 10, 1872, 
by the following charter members : H. Abraham, N. G. ; George Coun, V. G. ; J. E. 
Pike, R. S. ; W. S. Pinkston, Treas.; S. W. Miser, J. R. Dodge, S. Abraham, H. 
Zelinsky, J. W. Howard, G. R. Ellison, James A. Sterling, H. C. Dimick and F. A. 
Metz. The lodge has now a membership of twenty-six, and meets in the hall over 
A. F. Brown's store. The officers for 1883 were : F. A. Metz, N. G. ; M. Partin, V. 
G. ; G. A. Taylor, R. S. ; J. Dodge, Treas. 

Oakland became an incorporated city by the act of the legislature in 1878, and 
the elections held each year have resulted in choosing the following officers : 





TRUSTEES.* 


RECORDER. 


TREASURER. 


MARSHAL. 


1878 


J. D. McKinnon, E. J. Page. L. A. Pike, 
G. R. Sacry, J. N. Shupe. 


P. C. Parker. 


M. H. Hobart. 


A. R. Patton. 


1879 


J. R. Redman, L. C. Wheeler, James Haz- 
elton, William Hargan, Jas. C. Young. 


George Settle. 


Paul Renhaven. 


Alex. Hobart. 


1880 


J. H. Shupe, R. Smith, G. A. Taylor, J. 
W. Canaday, George F. Merriman. 


A. F. Brown. 


L. A. Pike. 


J. B. Murray. 


1881 


J. H. Shupe, R. Smith, J . W. Canaday, 
E. C. Sacry, C. M. Hall. 


George Settle. 


L. A. Pike. 


J. W. Norwood. 


1882 


J. H. Shupe, A. G. Young, W. F. Kerley, 
Geo. R. Sacryt, William K. Hanna. 


R. Smith. 


L. A. Pike. 


John S. Beckley. 


1883 


A. G. Young, J. C. Hutchinson, G. A. 
Taylor, Geary Young. George Barr. 


J. H. Shupe. 


Z. Dimick. 


John S. Beckley. 



* The one first named was president of the board. 

t Failed to qualify, and James Chenewoth chosen to the vacancy. 

Oakland lies in the midst of a splendid agricultural region, and is one of the most 
prosperous of the younger towns of Oregon. Its growth has been slow but steady and 
permanent, keeping pace with the development of its surroundings. Its business is 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 431 

established on a firm basis, and is gradually increasing. As a place of residence it is 
very desirable, both on account of its pleasant location and its agreeable inhabitants. 

Drain. — One of the most important business centers of Douglas county is Drain, a 
station on the Oregon and California railroad thirty-six miles northerly of Roseburg 
and twenty miles north from Oakland. It is, also, the point from which stages run to 
Scottsburg, Gardiner and other coast points. The town lies on Pass creek near its 
junction with Elk creek. It is some twelve miles south of the boundary line of Lane 
county, and is the shipping point for an extensive region. The greater portion of the 
land in the immediate vicinity is used for grazing purposes. The town lies in a canyon? 
and the surrounding hills furnish good grass and plenty of timber. On the east is the 
fertile Scott's valley, on the north Pass creek canyon, on the west Putnam valley and 
other agricultural districts, and on the south a portion of Yoncalla valley, all tributary 
to Drain. Northeast, northwest and southwest is a considerable area of government 
and railroad land valuable for grazing, timber and farming purposes, as yet unsurveyed 
and unsettled. 

The site of the town was first settled upon in 1847, by Warren N. Goodell, who 
took up a donation claim of 320 acres. This was purchased in 1858, by Jesse Apple- 
gate, who sold it in 1860 to Charles Drain for farming and agricultural purposes. 
When the Oregon and California railroad reached this j)oint in 1872, in its progress 
southward, it was surveyed and platted for a town, and was named in honor of Charles 
and John C. Drain, who donated to the company the sixty acres upon which the town 
was laid out. Two stores were at once built by J. W. Krewson and C. E. Tracy, also 
a hall which was used for a church, school-room and other purposes until 1882. Drain 
has grown steadily in size, population and business since its founding — until the past 
two years, since when its progress has been more rapid. Since 1881, the population 
has doubled, and the town is in a highly prosperous condition. Fully 500 people are 
living, within the limits of the school district. 

The business interests of Drain are quite numerous. J. C. and C. D. Drain are 
proprietors of a general store, and have just completed a large brick building. Joseph 
Cellers has a large store which was founded by a grange association in 1877, was sold 
to Krewson & Co., in 1878, and in 1883, was purchased by the present owner. Kuy- 
kendall & Estes have a variety and drug store, founded in 1882, also the post office and 
Wells, Fargo & Co's., express office. Jesse Gross established a hardware store in 1883. 
M. M. McCulland keeps a hotel, P. L. Shelly has a store, shop and harness shop in Dr. 
Stryker's brick building. This structure was erected in 1881 by the Doctor and his 
sons, burning and laying the brick themselves. There are, also a blacksmith shop, 
cabinet shop, butcher shop and livery stable. On Pass creek Johnson & Ellenberg 
own and operate a grist mill, built in 1877 by Krewson & Drain. The mill consumes 
18,000 bushels of grain annually, or all that is raised in its neighborhood. Palmer & 
Bros, have a steam saw mill on Pass creek in Drain. The yearly product is 1,500,000 
feet, though the mill has a capacity of 10,000 feet per day. The timber, principally 
fir with some ash, oak, alder and maple, is cut on Pass and Sandy creeks and rafted 
down to the mill. Another mill is situated on Ritchey creek, a tributary of Pass creek, 
and is owned by B. R. Fitch. The annual output is about 1,500,000 feet. 



432 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

About 1861 a school district was organized, and a log school house was constructed 
by Charles Drain, C. F. Colvin, J. M. Gardner and S. Ensley, two and one-half miles 
from the site of the present town of Drain. In 1869, a new house was erected near the 
old one. When the town was laid out, a hall was erected, in which school was main- 
tained until 1882, when the citizens subscribed very liberally to the construction of an 
academy, which was placed under the supervision of the Methodist church. In 1883, 
Prof. H. L. Benson and Miss Anna Geisendorfer were given charge of the school, 
which is now a flourishing and meritorious institution. In 1878, the Christian denomi- 
nation organized a society of thirteen members and erected a church edifice. The 
membership is now thirty. The Methodists hold services in the academy. 

November 7, 1878, the grand master of Oregon issued a dispensation to organize 
Pass Creek Lodge, A. F. & A. M. The organization was effected with the following 
officers: Jonas Ellenberg, W. M.; John Young, S. W.; A. Hickethui, J. W.; W. N. 
Boots, Treasurer ; J. W. Krewson, Secretary; John Barker, S. D.; J. Cellers, J. D.; B. R. 
Fitch, Tyler. The charter was granted July 13, 1879. The lodge is now in a healthy 
condition, with officers as follows : Jonas Ellenberg, W. M.; McChien Johnson, S. W.. 
J. E. Payton, J. W.; J. Cellers, Treasurer; J, W. Krewson, Secretary; Martin Andrews 
S. D.; William N. Boots, J. D.; B. R. Fitch, Tyler. 

Winchestee. — Situated on the North Umpqua, five miles north of Roseburg, is 
Winchester, the oldest town in the original county of Douglas, and the former county 
seat. The town was laid out in lots by A. R. Flint, now a resident of Roseburg, in 
1851, on the farm of John Aiken. Messrs. Carter & Emory bought the first lot and 
erected the first building soon after the town site was selected, and opened a store for 
the purpose of trading with the settlers then fast locating in the surrounding region. 
Goods were purchased and packed on mules to this pioneer store, whose customers were 
scattered over a radius of fifty miles. S. W. Cram was proprietor of the first hotel. 
Winchester became a noted place, and had prestige over all towns in Southern Oregon 
or Northern California for a four years, and when Douglas county was organized, it 
was designated by the legislature as the seat of justice. Later the county seat was 
removed to Roseburg by a vote of the people. Even at that time the town was wan- 
ing, and it soon lost its commercial importance as its neighbor grew in size and wealth. 
The first sermon preached south of the Calapooia mountains was delivered in the house 
of John Aiken in 1850, before the town was laid out or even thought of. 

Gaeden Valley. — Situated just below the junction of the north and south 
branches of the Umpqua, is four and one-half miles long, and derives its name from the 
character of the soil which is especially adapted to vegetables and garden products. The 
first permanent settlements were made by B. J. Grubbe, now a resident of Wilbur, Sol- 
omon Fitzhugh, now residing near Port Orford, and E. T. Grubbe, at present residing 
at Wilbur. The proprietors of the fertile bottom lands of Garden valley are Charles 
La Point, Narcisse La Rout, E. E. and T. J. La Brie, J. O. Booth and Jefferson Gil- 
liam. The valley was completely inundated by the great flood of 1861-2, so that the 
main current of the river flowed over the body of the valley. The bridge across the 
Umpqua at Winchester was washed across the valley complete, and all improvements, 
except the residence of E. T. Grubbe, were destroyed. 




Mrs. Charles Drain. 




m 







DOUGLAS COUNTY. ±.V.l 

Deer Creek. — This stream drains the region immediately to the eastward of Rose- 
burg and flows into the South Umpqua at that place. The total length of the stream 
is some twenty miles, and it has three branches, known as South, Middle and North 
Deer creek. The valley of Deer creek is of considerable breadth, and contains a large 
quantity of excellent farming land. About its headwaters are mountains of consider- 
able altitude by which its valley is separated from those of Myrtle creek and the 
affluents of the North Umpqua. The soil of the Deer creek valley is capitally adapted 
to the culture of cereals, and produces excellent crops of every cultivated species of grain. 
Some of the first farms of the county are found here, many of the owners of whom 
might be mentioned as progressive and intelligent agriculturists. The industry and 
enterprise of the settlers has borne fruit not alone in improved farms, good fences and 
comfortable residences, but in school houses, churches and other improvements. 

Grazing is an important industry of the valley, the surrounding hills affording the 
finest of grass for the sustenance of cattle, sheep and horses, and a considerable amount 
of mast from the forest trees is of material aid in the rearing of hogs. Generally speak- 
ing, agriculture is in a very forward state on Deer creek, and the farmers have signalized 
themselves by a steady devotion to the interests of their craft. 

Deer creek received its first settlers in 1851. Among its pioneers the name of 
Philip Peters takes the first rank. The population of this part of Douglas county 
centered at first at the mouth of Deer creek, and until the year 1856 or thereabouts the 
thickly settled locality at that point was known by the name of Deer creek — a cogno- 
men soon after changed to Roseburg in honor of Aaron Rose, and the former name has 
since been confined to the stream and its valley. 

The resources of the country around Deer creek are various. On the hills and 
mountains about its head a very fine quality of timber prevails, being mainly sugar 
pine, red and yellow fir, and cedar. The hard woods are oak, madrone, and a few less 
important kinds. Lumbering will doubtless be a pursuit of considerable irnj)ortance in 
days to come. A considerable amount of lands, suitable for grazing or tillage still 
remain unoccupied about the head of the creek but will doubtless be taken up by the 
immigrants very soon. This land, even on the highest elevations, is productive and 
would doubtless well repay its careful cultivation. 

Yoxcalla. — Lying in the extreme northern end of the county is Yoncalla valley, 
one of the most beautiful of the mountain-locked valleys of the Pacific coast. It is 
some eight miles in length from north to south and about three in width. It is drained 
by the Yoncalla, a tributary of Umpqua river and a stream of considerable size. The 
valley was settled in 1848 by William and John Scott, sons of Captain Levi Scott. 
They were followed by Robert and Thomas Cowan in 1848, by Jesse Applegate, J. T. 
Cooper (who had come into the Umpqua to explore the stream) and John Long and — 
Jeffery, in 1849, and by Robert Smith, Charles and Lindsay Applegate aud William 
Wilson in 1850. 

When the Oregon and California railroad was built through the valley in 1872, a 
station was established called Yoncalla 3 on the donation claim of Mr. G. A. Burt, who gave 
48 acres to the railroad company in consideration of building the depot on his land. 
This is the general shipping and receiving point and has become a town of consider- 
able importance. It has two general merchandise stores, kept by R. A. Booth and C. 

5S 



434 > SOUTHERN OREGON. 

E. Tracy. Mr. Booth is postmaster and Mr. Tracy is agent for Wells, Fargo & Co. 
A school and church organizations are well supported. Yoncalla, or, as more properly 
spelled, " Yoncolla," is a word of Indian origin, derived from yonh (eagle) and colla 
(mountain), and was originally applied to Eagle mountain, five miles northeast of 
the town. A saw mill was erected in 1882, by R. A. Booth, with a capacity of 
10,000 feet per day. In the north end of the valley and but two miles from Drain 
are the celebrated Payton mineral springs. Much attention is now being paid to 
stock, though the valley is the best wheat land lying south of the Calapooias, and prob- 
ably no section of the state can present so great a proportion of well-to-do, and even 
wealthy citizens. 

Elkton. — On the Umpqua river; sixteen miles west of Drain, is the little village 
of Elkton, at the mouth of Elk creek. By this name the stream was known in early 
times by the Hudson's Bay Company men, and right opposite the mouth of the stream 
was located the company's old fort spoken of in the early history of the county. With 
the exception of the employees of the company, the earliest settlers were H. B. Hart, 
James F. Levins, Ira Wells, Dr. Wells, W. F. Bay, George Payne and Zachariah 
Levins, who all located on the creek in 1850. In the fall of that year Winchester, 
Payne & Co. surveyed a town site where Elkton now stands, as has been related in 
the county history. They could not hold possession and therefore abandoned it, The 
next effort to make a town was in 1854, when the county of Umpqua surveyed a town 
site for a county seat upon forty acres of land donated by James F. Levins ; but this 
was found to be impracticable and the project was abandoned. The first convention in 
Umpqua county was held under an old oak tree on this same spot in 1851, which tree 
still stands near the corner of Mr. Levins' woodshed. That building possesses the dis- 
tinction of being the one in which Judge Deady held court in 1853. A saw mill was 
built at the mouth of Elk creek in 1878, and the next year a grist mill was erected by 
a company composed of Henry Beckley, John Smith, D. M. Stearns, Levi Kent, H. 
B. Hart and Levi Berkley. The yearly capacity of these mills is 200,000 feet of lum- 
ber and 2,000 barrels of flour. A little town soon sprung up, and in 1879 H. B. Hart 
and George Dimick opened a store, which was afterwards purchased by C. W. Baker, 
and later by Henry Beckley and J. W. Stark. The population of Elkton and vicinity 
is now about 350. Among the prominent and successful farmers and stockmen may 
be counted H. B. Brown, Charles G. Henderer, Levi Kent, John Smith and Ira Wells. 
A good public school is maintained. Elkton Lodge, No. 63, A. F. & A. M. was organ- 
ized under dispensation granted August 14, 1874, in which were named the following- 
officers : Robert Booth, W. M. ; E. B. Smith, S. W. ; W. R. Patterson, J. W. ; W. 
W. Wells, Treasurer; James McCahey, S. D. ; August Wood, J. D. Charter was 
granted June 14, 1875. The present membership is twenty-one. The soil of the val- 
ley is black, sandy loam, and is very productive. Being somewhat removed from 
a market, agriculture has been made secondary to stock raising. No section of Doug- 
las county produces better sheep, bacon or beef. The old Roseburg and Scottsburg 
road and the Coos bay mail route unite at Elkton and cross the creek over a truss 
bridge which was erected in 1879. Much of the product of the valley is sent down to 
Scottsburg and Gardiner for shipment. When the employees of the Hudson's Bay 
Company deserted the fort at Elk creek during the gold excitement in 1848-49, the 



DOUGLAS COUNTY 435 

large bands of cattle owned by the company there became scattered. They soon be- 
came wild, and the early settlers were compelled to slaughter them to protect their own 
animals. For several years the settlers and freighters supplied themselves with meat 
from this source. 

Scottsbueg. — The first town of Southern Oregon, the former metropolis of this 
whole region, and the county seat of Umpqua county before its consolidation with 
Douglas, was Scottsburg, situated on the north bank of Umpqua river, some thirty miles 
above its mouth, and at the head of navigation on that stream. 

In the summer of 1850, Captain Levi Scott, who was at the head of the road 
party which laid out the Applegate trail in 1846, settled on the site of Scottsburg, and 
laid out a town whose title still perpetuates his name. Not long after James McTavish 
came up the river and opened a store in a tent made of sails from the wrecked ship 
Bostonian, a disaster which has been detailed in the history of Gardiner. The same 
year George Snelling built the first permanent business establishment, being a zinc 
house which he had brought around the Horn in the Bostonian. About the same time 
William Sloan located some two miles further down the stream and opened a store, 
that place being thereafter known as the "Lower town." In the fall of 1850, Win- 
chester, Payne & Co., whose operations have been recited in the county history, occu- 
pied the space between Scottsburg and the lower town, which they surveyed for a 
town. Captain Scott donated for that purpose a portion of his claim, but this reverted 
to the original owner upon the failure of that firm. Scottsburg soon became the 
metropolis of Southern Oregon. All the trade of that region passed through this 
place, which had connection with San Francisco by sea. Roads were constructed at 
great expense to accommodate this trade, and the influence of this seaport town on the 
Umpqua extended clear into Northern California. In 1852, when it was at the apex 
of its greatness there were fifteen business houses engaged in a wholesale and retail 
trade. It was no unusual sight to see 500 pack animals in the streets waiting for their 
loads of goods. The founding of Crescent City in 1852 drew off a large portion of 
the trade of Scottsburg, and the increase of transportation facilities from other points 
rapidly undermined the remainder of its business. In 1858 the number of stores was 
reduced to two, and one of these was demolished by the great flood of 1861-2. Much 
damage was done by the raging waters, especially in the lower town, which was com- 
pletely swejDt away. The site is now covered with brush, and not a structure exists to 
mark the spot where once was great bustle and commercial activity. 

Scottsburg has now but one business house, that of Cyrus Hedden & Son. A. E. 
Ozouf owns and operates a tannery founded in 1852, by Levi Kent, and sends $5,000 
worth of leather to San Francisco annually. In 1878 P. P. Palmer built a flour mill 
which grinds 2,000 bushels of wheat annually. W. R. Patterson keeps a hotel. The 
road from up the river terminates here, and a steamer makes tri- weekly trips to the 
mouth of the river, carrying passengers, freight and mail. The population is about 
sixty in the town proper, while some thirty-five pupils attend the district school. 
Luring the Rogue river war of 1855-6, no trouble was experienced with the Indians 
here, but a company of 120 men was organized by Colonel Chapman for service at the 
seat of war. The only trouble near Scottsburg, was between Captain Rufus Buttler 
and a small band. The Captain fractured the skull of a chief who made an assault 



436 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

upon him, and in revenge the savages attacked his house, which he bravely defended 
until aid appeared and the Indians were persuaded to retire. Two miles below 
Scottsburg is an island called Brandy bar, which was so named because the schooner 
Samuel Roberts, the first to sail up the river, grounded on the island, and while 
waiting for the tide to float their vessel the crew went ashore and celebrated the 
occasion with a barrel of brandy. 

Gabdiner. — The present seaport town of the Umpqua is Gardiner, lying on the 
north bank of the river, seven miles above its mouth. The principal business and 
support of that thriving place is the lumber industry which is quite extensively car- 
ried on in this vicinity. Large mills are located at Gardiner, and lumber is shipped 
from it to San Francisco. Deep water vessels can enter the river and reach the wharf 
at this place, and all supplies for or shipments from the country further up the stream 
are handled here. Gardiner was once a city of " great expectations." Here was to 
be the seaport for the whole of Southern Oregon ; but with the construction of the 
Oregon and California railroad into the Umpqua valley this vision of future greatness 
vanished. Instead of a great commercial city there is now a thriving manufacturing 
town, and the business point for quite an area of agricultural land. 

Gardiner was named in honor of a Boston merchant by that name, who fitted out 
a schooner called Bostonian, and sent her around the Horn to engage in the Pacific 
coast trade, in charge of his nephew, George Snelling. On the first day of October, 
1850, the vessel reached the mouth of the Umpqua, and in endeavoring to enter was 
wrecked upon the bar. The crew managed to land the bulk of the cargo. Ten days 
later the Kate Heath (Captain Woods), entered the river with the party of Win- 
chester, Payne & Co. on board, who found the crew and cargo of the wrecked schooner 
at the site of the present town of Gardiner. This name the spot has borne ever since, 
though Snelling soon removed his goods to Scottsburg, and Captain Coffin soon after 
took up the land as a donation claim. Coffin sold his claim to Mr. Gibbs, who, in the 
fall of 1856, transferred it to James T. Cooper. In 1863 Gardiner Chisholm, David 
Morey, John Kruse and George Bauer, purchased nine acres and erected a saw mill 
from the timbers of the old block house brought from Umpqua City. In 1864 Cooper 
sold to J. B. Leeds and Abe Frier, and the next year Mr. Leeds laid the property oft 
into town lots. In 1877 G. S. Hinsdale, E. Brin and J. B. Leeds erected another 
saw mill. In 1881 Hinsdale purchased the entire property and sold an interest to W. 
F. Jewett. Later, the Gardiner Lumber Company, of San Francisco, purchased the 
property, being owners of the other mill also. The yearly product of the mills is 
12,000,000 feet of lumber. Logs come from Smith river and Camp and Mill creeks. 
Four schooners are loaded monthly for California and the Sandwich Islands. Gardi- 
ner has passed through the tribulation of fire, which nearly swept it from existence. 
July 26, 1881, fire originated from the fire pit of the new mill. Three houses that 
stood near and the mill were quickly burned, while flying cinders ignited the roofs of 
houses in the town, and soon Gardiner was wrapped in flames. No means were at hand for 
extinguishing them, and in a remarkably short period thirty-nine houses and stores 
were consumed. The total loss was $52,000. The burned buildings, which were 
chiefly the residences of the industrious employees of the mills, and whose loss left 
many families homeless and destitute, were rebuilt, and the town became larger and 







'pi' 



SSm - 



HHMgBHllMs*KS 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 437 

more substantial than before. In 1877 a salmon cannery was established, which dis- 
continued work after three years. In 1881 the Bath Canning Company was organized 
with a capital stock of $15,000, and put up that year 44,000 cases of salmon. In 
1882, 61,000 cases were packed, and in 1883, 65,000. In 1883 the two companies 
consolidated. Other business interests consist of two stores owned by Simpson Bros. 
& Co. and A. W. Reed, T. C. Markey's drug store, two hotels, owned by William 
Wade and William McGee. There is also a good public school. The population is 
about 200. Rural Lodge, No. 59, A. F. & A. M., was organized under dispensation 
December 14, 1872. The first officers were Robert McKinney, W. M. ; George M. 
Beldrice, S. W. ; William Wells, J. W. ; T. C. Reed, Sec. ; Joseph Roberts, S. D. ; 
W. W. Cox, J. D. ; P. J. Hickey, Tyler. Charter was granted June 12, 1873. A 
hall was built in 1873, was destroyed by the conflagration in 1881, and is now being 
replaced by a better one. The membership is twenty-one. 

A number of vessels have been constructed on the Umpqua. These were the 
brig Ellen Wood, schooners Umpqua, J. B. Leeds, Peerless, Louisa Madison, Emma 
Brown, Active, Hayes and Pacific. Several vessels have been lost on the Umpqua bar 
through carelessness or ignorance, namely — the Bostonian in 1850, and the Almira 
and Roanoke in 1852. Captain J. B. Leeds is of the opinion that the Umpqua bar is 
the least dangerous on the coast. 

Wilbuk. — The chief educational point in Douglas county for years was Wilbur 
a thriving little town on the line of the Oregon and California railroad, between Oak- 
land and Roseburg. Here is located the Umpqua Academy, which was the only insti- 
tution of the kind until the Drain Academy was founded. The site of Wilbur was 
taken December 24, 1850, by B. J. Grubbe, who built the first house the following 
spring. The same year, he employed a teacher who held in an oak grove the first 
school south of the Calapooia mountains. He sold to Mr. Clinkenbeard, who laid off 
a town in 1855. In 1853 Rev. J. H. Wilbur, the pioneer preacher of Southern Ore- 
gon, took up a donation claim, and in 1854 founded the Umpqua Academy under the 
auspices of the Methodist denomination. James H. B. Royal was the first teacher, 
occupying a little log building. A better building was afterwards erected, which was 
destroyed by fire and was replaced by the present structure. 



CHAPTER LIL 



OTHER LOCALITIES. 

Umpqua City — Long Prairie — Putnam Valley — Green Valley — Mill Creek, Loon Lake and Camp Creek — Smith 
River — Rice Valley — Siuslaw — Driver Valley — English Settlement — Elk Head — Scott Valley — Oak Grove or 
Ruckle — Clark's Branch — Day's Creek — Coffee Creek — Oak Creek. 

Umpqua City. — The operations of Winchester, Payne & Co. in 1850 have been 
fully rehearsed in the county history, including the founding of Umpqua City at the 
mouth of the river. Upon the failure of the company A. E. Rogers took up the town 
site as a claim, and in 1851 sold it to General Joseph Drew and Dr. E. P. Drew. 
Joseph E. Clark soon afterwards opened a hotel, which is the only business house 
Umpqua City ever could boast of. In 1853 Dr. Drew was appointed Indian agent and 
established his headquarters here. At the close of the Indian war in the summer of 
1856, Captain Stewart established a military post here, which was known as Fort Ump- 
qua. George Vincent, who has resided in the vicinity since 1852, states that in the sum- 
mer of 1862, when the paymaster arrived to pay the troops, he found all the officers, 
even to the sergeants and corporals, away on a hunting trip. There were no Indians 
requiring a post here, and when the department commander learned of the paymaster's 
experience, he ordered the fort abandoned. An effort to re-establish it was so far suc- 
cessful that Captain J. B. Leeds was on the point of leaving San Francisco with troops 
and supplies for that purpose when the order was countermanded. The old block 
house and soldiers' quarters were removed to Gardiner, and all that now serves to mark 
the spot is the residence of H. H. Barat. Steamers touch at this place and leave mail 
for points up the coast. 

Long Prairie. — Lying on the Umpqua four miles above Scottsburg is a narrow 
strip of bottom land following the windings of the stream for nine miles, which bears 
the distinguishing title of Long Prairie. It is hemmed in by high mountains, densely 
covered with fir timber. The soil is the rich black loam usual to these fertile bottom 
lands. In 1850 a company, composed of Job Hatfield, Major Thorp, William Golden 
and Dave Johnson, left Portland to explore the Umpqua, which they reached at the 
mouth of Elk creek. They followed the course of the river to its mouth and then 
returned to this valley to settle, deeming it the best they had seen. This was the 
founding of the settlement in Long Prairie which has grown through the years to a 
population of seventy-five. In this little community a, most excellent school is main- 
tained. The most prominent men who have been identified with Long Prairie are 
Job Hatfield, one of the original settlers and the pioneer pilot of the Columbia bar ? 
Andrew Sawyer and Captain Bufus Buttler. 

Putnam Valley. — One and one-half miles west of Drain is Putnam valley, named 
in honor of one of its pioneer settlers, who is still an influential citizen of this region. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 439 

The valley is four miles long and about two wide, Elk creek traversing its lower end. 
The soil is well adapted to grain, vegetables and fruit. The stock interest is large, 
especially sheep. The first settler in the valley was James Daisley, in 1850, other 
pioneers being James Palmer, Henry Gardiner, Thomas K. Gardiner, and Charles F. 
Putnam. The population is about seventy-five, and good schools and church organ- 
izations are maintained. 

Green Valley. — Five miles west of Oakland lies a narrow valley, four miles in 
length, kuown as Green valley. Early in 1851, H. C. Scott and M. Farley settled in 
the valley, and were soon followed by H. Pinkston, who was accompanied by his 
family. He built a house, in which the first school was kept, and in which J. H. 
Wilbur preached the first sermon in Southern Oregon. Later, in the same year, came 
William Patterson, — . Crosby, J. L. Gilbert and N. W. Allen. In 1853, the settlers 
erected, at an expense of $1,000, the first school house south of the Calapooia moun- 
tains. In 1851, Dr. Reed built a saw mill, and a grist mill in 1852 — the first in 
Douglas county. Other early settlers were N. Venable, J. J. Walton, P. C. Parker, 
Preston Pice and — . Shupe. 

Mill Ceeek, Loon Lake and Camp Creek. — In the spring of 1852, S. S. 
Williams, Joseph Peters, and Job Hatfield went on an exploring expedition southwest 
of Scottsburg to the headwaters of Mill creek, a stream entering the Umpqua some 
four miles below that city. About four miles up the stream, they came upon a lake, 
some two by three miles in dimensions, which had been formed by a land-slide block- 
ing the creek. In the center of the lake was a floating log, upon which they discov- 
ered a loon's nest containing two eggs, while the two birds, to which the nest belonged, 
were observed at some distance on the water. The eggs were packed in moss and taken 
home, being subsequently donated to the Wilbur academy ; and, in view of these facts, 
the place has always been known as Loon lake. The next year, S. S. Williams con- 
ducted a party there on the direct route from Scottsburg. On the way they discovered 
a stream tributary to Mill creek, which they named Camp creek, because they made an 
encampment there. These two streams are lined with dense forests of fir and cedar, 
and logging for the Gardiner mills has recently been commenced on them. A large 
camp of men cut the timber and float the logs down to the Umpqua, and thence to 
Gardiner, fifteen miles below. 

Smith River. — About eight miles above its mouth, a sluggish stream enters the 
Umpqua from the northeast, which has been named Smith river, because it is supposed 
to be the stream upon whose banks Jedediah S. Smith's party was destroyed by Indians 
in 1827, as has been related previously. Boland island, named in honor of Captain 
Boland, its first settler, divides the mouth of the stream into two parts. The river 
has its source in the Calapooias, and has a length along its course of ninety miles, 
winding tortuously through an extremely rugged and mountainous region. From two 
to three thousand acres of agricultural land lie in long, narrow strips along the banks 
of the stream, which in several places spread out into large marshes and mud flats. 
The soil is rich alluvium. The upper portion of the stream runs through a more open 
country, where are extensive ranges for stock. The dense timber of the lower portion 
consists chiefly of fir, cedar and maple, and much logging is done for the mills at 
Gardiner. In 1851, a company of men cut timber at the mouth of the stream to be 



440 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

shipped to San Francisco for piling. In 1853, Waterman and Curtis Johnson and J. 
Davenport explored the river, and the following year returned with John Shurtz, J. 
W. Miller and P. P. Simmons and made a permanent settlement. In pursuance to an 
act of the legislature, passed the year before, a survey was made in 1858 for a wagon 
road from Eugene City to the headwaters of the Smith river, a distance of seventy- 
one miles ; but the route was reported impracticable, and the project was abandoned. 
In 1864, logging commenced for the new mill at Gardiner, and the good land was then 
immediately taken up by an industrious class of people, who engage in farming, stock- 
raising and logging. A steamer carrying the mail and passengers ascends the stream 
to the head of tidewater, a distance of twenty-five miles, and from that point the upper 
settlements are reached by a county road which was constructed in 1874. The men 
most prominently identified with the interests of Smith river are John Cowan, John 
Shurtz, S. A. Perkins, John Lester, H. G. Mead and Milton Shurtz. Two good schools 
are maintained on the river. The chief market for this region is San Francisco, which 
is reached by way of Gardiner. 

Rice Valley. — Four miles north of Oakland is Rice valley, named in honor of 
W. S. Rice, who settled there in 1852, and is still one of its most prominent citizens. 
The valley is five miles long and one mile in width, and is drained by Cabin creek, a 
tributary of the Calapooia. It is under a high state of cultivation, producing a super- 
ior quality of grain, fruit and berries, and is well stocked with sheep and cattle. The 
earliest settler was A. J. Knowles, in 1851, followed by W. S., Ira and Isadore Ric^, 
Wesley Allen, Frederick Thieler, W. S. Tower and John Canady, who are still its 
principal owners. The Oregon & California railroad traverses the valley, at the head 
of which is Rice Station, the general shipping point. The population of seventy-five^ 
maintain a good school. A little trouble was experienced with the Indians by some of 
the settlers who located claims upon tracts of land the natives desired to keep and cul- 
tivate for themselves. This culminated after the war of 1856 in an attack by two of 
the whites upon an Indian house in which two of the inmates were killed. Serious 
trouble came near resulting from this, and mob violence was threatened. The men 
were tried for the act, but were not convicted. 

Siuslaw. — The Siuslaw river forms for a distance the boundary line between Lane 
and Douglas counties. The valley or bottom lands, usually about a mile in width, 
extend along the stream for forty miles, and are covered with a thick growth of fir, 
cedar, maple and alder. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, well adapted to hops and grass. 
The valley is well stocked with good sheep and cattle. The earliest settlers were D. 
W. Hinch, A. J. Moody, David Morse, Sr., and Captain Hill, who came in 1875. 
The little town of Florence was soon founded on the Lane county side of the stream. 
In 1876 Duncan & Co., established a cannery, and A. J. Moody opened a store. Nav- 
igation extends up this stream twenty miles, where begins a good road to Eugene City, 
thirty-seven miles distant. Two stores are kept, by David Morse and David Morse, Jr. 
There are also two hotels and a cannery, the property of David Morse. The present 
population is about 200, but many new settlers are constantly arriving. 

Driver Valley. — Ten miles east of Oakland is Driver valley, a fertile tract 
three and one-half miles long and about one mile wide, named in honor of I. D. 
Driver, who settled there in 1853. The center of the valley is level land, with a rich 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 



441 



Mack soil well adapted to vegetables and general agriculture; the red clay of the sur- 
rounding bald hills produces excellent wheat and other grains. The mountains are 
densely timbered. The valley is stocked with excellent sheep and its resources are 
well developed. The population of twenty-five have easy access to good schools and 
churches. 

English Settlement. — A tract of laud six miles long by two wide lies eight 
miles north of Oakland, and is called English Settlement because of the nation- 
ality of its first occupants. Three creeks, Oldham, Bachelor and Pollock, tra- 
verse it, the land along the streams being level, while that between is rolling prairie. 
The best of grain, fruit and vegetables are produced, and the valley is stocked with 
fine breeds of cattle, horses, sheep and swine. The first settler was Sim Oldham, in 
1852, the later arrivals of the most prominence being Dr. Hall, George Hall and H. 
I nderwood. The present population numbers about sixty. A good school is main- 
tained, and the community is in a highly prosperous condition. 

Elk Head. — A uarrow valley of this name, which is locally known as Shoe- 
string, lies twelve miles southwest of Oakland, at the headwaters of Elk creek. The 
valley is surrounded by high mountains and is but one-half a mile in width and about 
five miles long, and though the soil is rich the area of arable land is limited. It is 
well stocked with sheep and swine. J. W. Jones settled here in 1853, the more prom- 
inent arrivals of a later date being E. B. Coats, G. D. Woodson, Joseph H. Garoutte 
and P. A. Harris. In the summer of 1880, Rev. A. S. Todd, while riding through 
the valley, observed a ledge of quartz, which upon investigation proved to be an exten- 
sive lode of cinnabar. Work has been commenced on this by a private company of 
the valley. A little town called Elk Head has sprung up, and the indications are 
that here will develop one of the most important industries of the county. The pop- 
ulation of the village is 120 ; a good school is supported by the citizens. 

Scott Valley. — Situated about three miles east of Yoncalla is a little valley 
which was settled in 1848 by Captain Levi Scott, the founder of Scottsburg, whose 
name the valley bears. It has an area of about four square miles. The soil is a mix- 
ture of adobe and sandy alluvium, and produces grain and fruit abundantly. Oak, 
ash and fir timber is unlimited. A saw mill with a yearly production of 100,000 feet 
of lumber is owned by Bryant & Sweeney. A good school exists in the valley. The 
population numbers sixty-five. 

Oak Gkoye, oe Ruckle. — This place is a station on the Oregon and California 
railroad, eighteen miles south of Roseburg. It was settled by J. H. Bean in 1851, 
and is now owned by M. C. Ruckle and George H. Stevenson. 

Claek's Bbaxch. — This stream derived its name from James A. Clark, whose 
donation claim was located at its mouth. The property is now owned by William 
Hudson. 

Day's Ceeek. — In 1851 Patrick and George Day settled at the mouth of 
the stream which bears their name, and were soon followed by J. P. Wilson 
and James O'Xeal. The valley through which it flows is seven miles in length and 
but half a mile wide. Upon the stream is a saw mill owned by Mr. Adams and 
operated by Mr. Bailey. An abundance of fir, cedar and sugar pine grows along the 
creek. The principal farmers are Messrs. Raymond, Tate, Chamberlain, Perdue, 



442 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Woods, Linville and Blaine. A good school exists, and the Methodists have a church 
organization, Rev. H. P. Webb, pastor. 

Coffee Creek. — This stream was named by miners in 1858, because of a joke 
about a coffee pot. Placer claims are being worked along the stream. The principal 
owners of the land are Joshua Noland, S. K. Shelly, S. Morgan, James Cox, Benjamin 
Stout and Daniel Conley. 

Oak Creek. — On this stream, situated in Mt. Scott precinct, ten miles northeast 
of Roseburg, is a church edifice 24x40 feet in size, belonging to the denomination of 
Primitive or Old School Baptists. The church was organized by Elder Isom Craw- 
ford, June 3, 1871, assisted by Ezra Stout and John T. Crooks. The present officers 
are : Joseph Thornton, moderator ; Jeptha Thornton and William S. Matthews, 
elders ; G. R. P. Allerbury, deacon ; James Thornton, clerk. 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY, 



CHAPTER LIIL 



DESCRIPTION AND RESOURCES. 

Location of the County— Boundaries— Extent — Character of the Surface— Mountain Streams — Illinois Valley — 
Northern Josephine — Trees — Animals — Minerals — Marble— Copper— Gold. 

Josephine county embraces that portion of country lying between Jackson county 
on the east and Curry on the west, and extending from Douglas county to the Cali- 
fornia line. The boundaries, as given by the act of legislature of January 22, 1856, 
creating Josephine county, are as follows : Beginning at the southwest corner of town- 
ship 32, range 5, west ; being the south boundary of Douglas county ; thence west along 
the dividing ridge separating the waters of Cow creek from those of Rogue and Co- 
quille rivers, to the northeast corner of Curry county ; thence south along the east line 
of said county to the summit of the divide between Rogue and Illinois rivers ; thence 
west along the divide to a point seven miles east of the junction of those rivers ; thence 
south to the California state line ; thence east to the intersection of the west boundary 
of range 4, west ; thence north to the southeast corner of township 36 ; thence west to 
the southwest corner of the same township ; thence north to the place of beginning. 

There is a considerable discrepancy between the various maps of the region in 
respect of the western boundary of the county, and the dimensions, as given by the act 
quoted, do not by any means appear on the ordinary state maps. The western boundary 
is usually considered to be a north and south line dividing range nine west, through 
the middle from a point about three miles south of Rogue river to the California line. 
The boundary, as it appears in the act, would intersect the corresponding townships of 
range eleven, west, thereby giving to Josephine about twenty-nine townships more 
surface than are usually assigned her. But considering the character of the region thus 
gained, it would hardly seem a valuable acquisition. The greatest length of the county 
is from north to south, and is fifty-eight miles ; the greatest width, assuming the county 
to be as it is usually figured on maps, is twenty-seven miles, and the extent of surface 
is 777,600 acres, or little more than one-third of the area of Jackson county. 

Josephine county is very rough and mountainous in its character and has little 
level land. The principal mountain range is the Siskiyou, whose main chain separates 
Josephine county from California. Spurs of this range trend north and northwest, 
enclosing the Illinois river, which is the principal habitable section in the southern part. 



444 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Between this valley and that of the Applegate is a rugged and lofty range, which is a 
portion of the Siskiyous. The general direction of these ranges is northwest, as is 
shown by the principal streams running that way, and the last named chain of moun- 
tains is no exception to the rule, for it continues in that direction as far as the conflu- 
ence of Rogue and Illinois rivers. In the northern part of the county the principal ele- 
vations are off-shoots of what are commonly called the Rogue river mountains and 
sometimes the Umpqua or Canyon mountains. The Grave creek hills, so called, lie 
between that stream and Jump-oft-Joe, and the Wolf creek range between Cow 
and Wolf creeks. They are very broken in appearance, but lie in a generally east and 
west line and are of considerable height, some summits attaining an elevation of 4,000 
feet or more. Toward Rogue river the mountains decrease much in height, the highest 
summits being in the extreme ends of the county, whereas that stream flows through 
its middle or not far therefrom. 

As previously inferred, the principal streams take a northwesterly course through 
Josephine county. They are Rogue and Illinois rivers, and Applegate creek, whereof 
the first and last rise in Jackson county, to the eastward, while Illinois river begins its 
course in Josephine, far up among the Siskiyous, and flowing through the most valu- 
able part of the county runs into Rogue i-iver about twelve miles from the coast of 
Curry county. This stream takes its name from the state of Illinois, whence some 
early miners came and applied that name patriotically. The Illinois is divided in the 
upper part of its course, and its two branches, called east fork and west fork, respect- 
ively, unite a short distance above Kirbyville. Into the west fork flows Rough and 
Ready creek, which rises in the mountains of Curry and flows eastwardly, and the east 
fork receives Sucker and Althouse creeks, streams of immense note in mining history. 
A few miles below Kirbyville, Josephine creek enters the Illinois from the west, and 
Deer creek from the east. 

This section, commonly called Illinois valley, is, rightly speaking, a basin, whose 
sides are mountain ranges which enclose it perfectly excepting as to the narrow and al- 
most impassable canyon through which flows the Illinois on its way to join Rogue river. 
The smaller tributaries named flow toward a common center. The height of the rim 
of the basin toward the south is from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. On the west are the rough 
and heavily wooded mountains of Curry county, among whose deep canyons and pre- 
cipitous steeps man can find no habitable spot. The Illinois has, by the slow process 
of cycles, worn its deep and narrow passage, as has Rogue river, but upon their banks 
no fertile bottom land exists nor has humanity ever found a resting place by their tur- 
bulent waters. But nature wears a fairer aspect on the upper portion of the course of 
the Illinois. Here are many farms, and the soil is, though small in quantity, very 
rich and productive. Above Kirbyville the river and its tributaries have yielded the 
greater part of the immense quantity of gold taken from the mines of Josephine. 
In the palmy days of 1855 and neighboring years the banks were lined with miners 
and the product of gold was enormous. The course of the Illinois is north for the 
greater portion of its length in Josephine county, but on reaching the waters of Deer 
creek, on the western boundary of township 38, it assumes a northwesterly direction 
and flows into Rogue river, thirty odd miles from the confluence of the creek named 
The extent of the basin of the Illinois and its tributary streams in Josephine county 





at * 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be inserted at a future date. 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 445 

is about 400 square miles or 270,000 acres, which is about one-third of the total area of 
the county. This extent of mountain, hill and dale comprises the most valuable por- 
tion of the county and constitutes an agricultural section of considerable importance. 
Here are gathered two-thirds of the total population of Josephine, with the greater 
part of the permanent improvements, etc. Here, too. is the county seat, Kirbyville* 
and the greater number of inhabited localities. 

The northern section is less regular in outline than that just described, and is also 
more diversified. It falls short in the matter of natural advantages, nor has it means 
for supporting as numerous a population as the Illinois valley. The principal streams 
are the Rogue river and Applegate, Williams, Slate, Galice, Jump-off- Joe, Louse, 
Grave, Wolf and Coyote creeks, all of which ultimately find their way into the one 
channel of Rogue river. Applegate creek, the largest of these, enters Josephine 
county on the eastern boundary, and running northward joins Rogue river nearly in the 
middle of the county. It receives in Josephine county two considerable streams, Wil- 
liams and Slate creeks, both of which rise in the divide between the Applegate and 
Illinois and run northeast, Galice creek rises in the western portion of the county 
and empties into Rogue river, a short distance below Grave creek. Louse creek joins 
Jump-off-Joe and runs into Rogue river, from the opposite direction. Grave creek 
pursues a westerly course, receives Wolf creek and adds its waters to the main river* 
about fifteen miles below the mouth of Jump-off-Joe. Coyote creek is an affluent of 
Wolf creek, and rises in the northwestern part of Jackson county. All of these creeks, 
without exception, have been the scene of mining operations and some are yet pro- 
ducing wealth and promising still better yields. 

The flora and fauna of Josephine county have an almost exact resemblance to 
those of the sister county of Jackson. As regards the former there are various trees 
and plants of economic value, the principal of which are the sugar pine, pitch pine* 
cedar and red fir, of great importance in lumber making; there are several species of 
hard wood, particularly the black oak and white oak, as well as various descriptions of 
smaller trees, underbrush, etc. Speaking in general terms we may say there is enough 
timber in the county to supply the probable demand for many generations ; and owing 
to its comparative inaccessibility large quantities will most likely remain standing for 
a long term of vears. 

Wild animals of many species are found in Josephine county, and those consid- 
ered as game are particularly abundant. Deer of the black-tailed variety abound in 
large numbers in nearly all parts of the county and are much valued as a means of 
sustenance. Bears of the small black species are not uncommon, and the more formid- 
able grizzly is met with, but not frequently. The cinnamon bear is also said to exist 
in the county. Elk, once plentiful, are now reduced in number to a few individuals 
who inhabit elevated and almost inaccessible spots in the mountains. The cougar, bet- 
ter known as the California lion, and sometimes miscalled panther, is to be seen or 
heard in the wilds, and the mischievous coyote, the fox, raccoon, wild-cat, badger, and 
occasionally a porcupine are seen. Of fur-bearing animals there are the beaver, otter, 
marten, fisher and mink. Silver foxes are occasionally seen in the Siskiyous. 

The mineral resources of Josephine county are similar to those of Jackson, no 
great difference being noted in any respect. Properly speaking, the two counties are 



446 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

but one in location, industrial resources and natural advantages. As to mineral wealth 
Josephine is well supplied with a large number of the more useful and valuable met- 
als, ores and rocks, most particularly of gold, copper and marble. Of the latter a 
mountain exists near the former town of Williamsburg, of various colors and emi- 
nently adapted for constructive purposes, and being in such vast quantity may justly 
be looked upon as of great future importance. The celebrated cave, so much spoken 
of, is, like nearly all great natural caverns, in limestone, whose quantity is inexhaust- 
ible. Copper has been an article upon which great hopes have been based. Several 
locations have been made on promising veins, and work has been undertaken in two 
or three instances. Near Waldo a mine of this sort whose ore contains twenty-three 
per cent, of metallic copper is owned by S. F. Chadwick, John Brandt and C Hughes. 
The same parties own a similar claim fifteen miles below Kirbyville. Iron ore of 
assumed valuable quality exists in Josephine, but of course it can be looked upon only 
as a possible source of wealth in the very remote future. 

But all other sources of mineral wealth become trivial in comparison with the 
gold mines of Josephine. The region is pre-eminently a country of gold mining, 
exceeding in respect to those interests any other portion of Oregon. The first gold 
extracted in the state was found in Josephine county, and after a third of a century 
actively spent in that pursuit, the deposits are by no means exhausted. There are 
placer diggings from which, as in Jackson county, by far the greater bulk of the wealth 
has been taken, the quartz mines producing a very small portion of the total yield. 



CHAPTER LIV. 



EVENTS OF THE COUNTY HISTORY. 

Organization— Waldo, the First County Seat— Name Derived from Miss Josephine Rollins — Prospectors Arrive in 
1851 — Discovery of Placer Diggings— Althouse — A Hard Winter — Roads— Mining, the Principal Resource — 
Statistics — Conclusions. 

Josephine county was organized by act of the territorial legislature which took effect 
in January, 1856. The county seat at first was Waldo, originally and most frequently 
called Sailor Diggings, because of the discovery by a party of sea-faring men of rich 
placers in that vicinity. That place succeeded Althouse as the foremost locality in the 
Illinois valley, and in time was succeeded by Kirbyville, whose location is near the 
geographical centre. The first court of Josephine county was held in the fall of 1856, 
at Waldo, Judge M. P. Deady on the bench. The reason for setting Josephine off as a 
distinct county was that the people of that portion of Jackson county were incommoded 
by being obliged to travel so difficult a road to the county seat. This reason was of 
great force at that time, as the roads were extremely bad — in fact, were only trails — and 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 



447 



travel was necessarily slow and expensive. At the present day that mode of reasoning- 
has lost much of its force, particularly with regard to the northern part of the county, 
whose people, aided by the railroad, would find it much easier to reach the capital of 
Jackson county than the comparatively secluded county seat of Josephine. The county 
derives its name directly from Josephine creek, and indirectly from Miss Josephine 
Rawlins or Rollins, at one time the only white female in the county. Her arrival took 
place in 1851, her father being, for a short time at least, a miner on Josephine creek, 
just below the confluence of Canyon creek. This young lady afterward settled in 
Yreka, and became the wife of O'Kelly, a resident of that town. It is worthy of 
remark that a member of the Legislature proposed to substitute the name Kelly for 
Josephine when the organic act was under discussion ; but the attempt against euphony 
and fitness signally failed. 

The earliest visitors to what is now Josephine county undoubtedly were the trap- 
pers employed by the Hudson's Bay Company, who came through this region, travers- 
ing the northern part of it in the vicinity of the Oregon trail, and probably exploring 
in a casual way the valleys of the principal stream. It is known that they gave names 
to some of the water-courses and elevations of that part of the country, but the extent 
of their explorations and knowledge cannot now be known. At a later date, the trail 
— by that time well known and comparatively much used — was traversed by sundry 
parties of settlers from the northern part of the state, who were in the habit of making 
occasional trips to California for cattle, etc. Still later, the gold discoveries attract 
many people from the Willamette to the California mines, and travelers were frequent. 
Many curious and interesting occurrences must have taken place in these years, but of- 
the most of them w T e have no knowledge beyond tradition and garbled hearsay state- 
ments. 

In the year 1851 the history of the county really begins, in the discovery and 
working of the placers in Canyon and Josephine creeks. Herein we find that the 
commencement of the history of this county antedates that of Jackson by a year, and in 
some sense Josephine may be looked on as a progenitor of the neighboring county, in 
respect to its actual development, though not, of course, as regards the county organiza- 
tion, since that of Jackson preceded the other by four years. 

In 1851, several prospectors came north from the Klamath river, and passing over 
the divide into the valley of the Illinois, found gold to the west of that stream, in the 
sands of a creek which flows into the Illinois a few miles below Kirbyville. The news 
of their discovery was immediately communicated to the numerous and populous min- 
ing camps of Northern California, and people began to move toward the new diggings 
in considerable numbers. This was the first mining locality discovered or worked in 
Oregon, and therefore a historic spot. During the season, more particularly in time of 
the same year, a considerable number of men arrived on the creek and mined, meeting 
with varied success. Several of these old miners now reside in various parts of South- 
ern Oregon, there being Hardy Eliff, of Cow creek, Dan Fisher, of Willow Springs, J. 
E. Ross, Nathaniel Mitchell and James Tuffs, now of Jackson county, and possibly 
others ; Avhile the most of them, of course, have passed away. 

When in June, 1851, active hostilities began against the Indians along the banks 
of Rogue river, Major Kearney dispatched a subordinate officer to the Illinois valley 






448 SOUTHEBN OKEGON. 

for assistance in conquering the enemy. Quite a large proportion of the Josephine 
creek miners responded to the call and proceeded to Bear creek where they served for 
a few days against the Indians, their warlike career being terminated by the Gaines 
treaty of peace. Some thirty, it is said, were thus engaged, but others have fixed the 
number at twice that. How many remained on the creek is not known. Little pros- 
pecting was done in this year excepting on Josephine creek and its tributary, Canyon 
creek, nor were the diggings along these two streams very well developed. Canyon 
creek has continued to yield well ever since and is still worked somewhat. During the 
fall of 1851 a number of Willamette valley farmers and others tried their fortunes on 
the two creeks, but with indifferent success, owing mainly to their lack of skill and 
almost total lack of mining tools. In the following spring immigration set almost 
entirely toward Jacksonville, and Josephine county was neglected, until in the latter 
part of the year the Althouse — called so for Phillip Althouse, who washed the first 
pan of dirt in which gold was found on that stream — diggings were discovered and that 
place quickly assumed an importance almost equal to that of Jacksonville. Along 
Althouse creek for ten miles and more, the diggings extended and a vast number of 
miners labored there, perhaps not less than a thousand in the most active times. The 
pay dirt on this stream in places was of the richest description and probably surpassed 
any other locality in the whole of Southern Oregon. The aggregate production of the 
mines on Althouse and Democrat gulch, only separated by a divide, must have 
been enormous, for a very large number of miners labored there with satisfactory 
results for more than fifteen years. The average yearly number could not have been 
less than 300, and was probably more. Other mining districts filled up in like pro- 
portion, the principal ones being on the tributaries of the Illinois and on Galice creek, 
and when Josephine was organized as a county her mining population was probably 
not less than 2,500. Nearly the same mutations were experienced here as in Jackson 
county, in respect to the alternate ebb and flow of fortune and population, and there 
was a similarity in other respects, such as the difficulty of transportation, the want of 
communication with the outer world, lack of roads, etc. Prices were extremely high, 
particularly in the winter of 1852-3, when a great many miners were forced to leave 
their claims for want of food, and those who had the hardihood to remain were in many 
cases reduced to the direst straits, and not a few had to live on meat alone, and without 
salt. A considerable loss of life from hunger and improper food resulted from the 
distressing condition, which was made so intolerable from the great fall of snow, which 
blocaded the trails in all directions and prevented ingress or egress. Spring came, 
however, communication was re-established, pack-trains began to arrive with loads of 
provisions, prices decreased, and the miners set about their season's work with great 
hope and courage. 

It does not appear exactly when the trail from Illinois valley to Crescent City was 
first traversed, but it must have been early in the summer of 1853. Soon after, an 
active transportation business sprang up, whereby pack-trains became common, their 
function being to supply a good part of the miners with the necessaries of life, and 
these articles were, at a somewhat later date mostly shipped in by way of Crescent 
City, which place soon supplanted its northern rival, Scottsburg, in the importing 
business. For several years the trail to the former point remained only a trail. In 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 449 

I 85 I, people having become aroused to the necessity of having a wagon road to the 
coast agitated themselves and procured the survey of a practicable route. The survey 
was soon completed, but it was not until 1857 that the Crescent City and Illinois wagon 
road was commenced. In due time it was finished and has since been used very much, 
but in a decreasing degree. This noted and important highway, second only to the 
old " Oregon trail " itself, beginning at the port of Crescent City, in Del Norte county, 
California, takes a northeasterly course to the Oregon state line, which it crosses at a 
point about three miles south of Waldo. Here it assumes a generally north direction 
and crossing the east fork of the Illinois, proceeds to Kirbyville, and then bending 
toward the northeast, crosses Deer creek and reaches the Applegate near the mouth of 
Slate creek, and Rogue river at Long's or Yannoy's ferry. Still keeping a north- 
easterly course it intersects the Oregon trail at Louse creek, near the eastern border of 
Josephine county. The Oregon trail enters Josephine from the north, at Galesville, 
after passing through the celebrated Canyon, and proceeds southward across Wolf, 
Coyote and Jump-ofF-Joe creeks, passing into Jackson county a short distance south of 
the latter stream. It was customary to traverse the " hill route," which lies over the 
Grave creek and Wolf creek hills, but sometimes the traveler chose a somewhat longer 
but more level course further to the west and consequently crossing lower down those 
streams. These routes were substantially the ones traveled by those who came through 
Southern Oregon in early years and they have since continued to be the main arteries 
of traffic, until supplanted by the railway. 

The Applegate road leading from Wilderville on Slate creek, along the south bank 
of Applegate river was a thoroughfare of some importance ; and in late years has been 
the ordinary stage route from Jacksonville to the Illinois valley. 

The question of roads has always been an important and ever present one in Jos- 
ephine county. Permanent roadways are of difficult construction and expensive main- 
tenance, and the traffic of the country necessarily small. Many attempts have been 
made to secure closer communication with outside markets, but unavailmgly. In 1874 
D. S. K. Buick surveyed a route to Chetco, in the southern part of Curry county. His 
proposed road was to begin at a point eight miles north of Kirbyville, and proceed in 
a west-southwest direction to the coast. Its length was fifty-seven miles, which is 
twenty-three miles less than the Crescent City road from the same point to its ocean 
terminus. The steepest grades are said to be less than in the latter road, and the high- 
est point is but 1,900 feet in altitude, while the Crescent City road reaches an elevation 
of 4,800 feet. The cost of the proposed road was estimated at $55,800. This high- 
way, though offering considerable advantages to the people of the Illinois and Rogue 
river valleys, was never constructed. 

In consequence of her limited area of agricultural land Josephine county was 
possessed of but one principal resource, that of mining. In this latter respect she excelled 
all other counties in Oregon in the amount of auriferous gravel within her borders, and 
probably — though that is an unascertained fact — in the amount of gold produced. We 
must consider the county as almost exclusively a mining community, whence we shall 
find a reason for the marked decadence immediately succeeding the period of great- 
est prosperity, which we may regard as ending in 1860. Until that time the number 
of Caucasian miners in the county had not sensibly diminished since the formation of 

58 



450 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

the new county, while agriculture, such as it was, had got in a fit way to supply the 
demands of these miners for articles of sustenance. In 1857 and 1858 there took 
place that remarkable mining craze, the Frazer river excitement, which has become 
typical of all its kind. It was directly responsible for a great falling off in the popu- 
lation of Josephine county — a loss which was considerable, but whose extent is not 
definitely known. The loss was, as regards numbers, nearly made up by the increment 
of Chinese miners, and we find accordingly no diminution in the number of polls as 
returned by the assessor. 

The statistical history of the later years of Josephine county is mainly embraced 
in the assessors' rolls for the various years, from which we extract the following 
accounts. In 1858, at a rather prosperous era, we find the polls to have numbered 712, 
and the taxable property to have been $313,852. Three years later the county had a 
total population of about 1,400, the number of voters was 724, the value of real estate 
was $253,920, and of personal property $347,377, and the rate of tax was twenty-five 
mills per dollar. Then came a long period of depression, when mining notably 
decreased, the aggregate population fell off one-fifth, and the number of voters one- 
half In 1875 the assessor returned the population as numbering, 1,132, the polls 
331, and the acreage under cultivation 6,269. The agricultural products of that year, 
wheat 16,000 bushels, oats 9,000, barley 3,000, corn 5,000, potatoes and aprjles each 
10,000, and hay 3,000 tons. There were 6,000 sheep, 1,000 cattle, about the same 
number of horses, and twice as many hogs. The production of lumber for the year 
was 45,000 feet. The showing for 1880 was about the same. The number of polls had 
increased to 340, the gross value of all property was reckoned at $403,932, of which 
$253,594 was taxable. The acreage of land enclosed was 40,972, whose average 
value was fixed at $3.80 per acre. For 1882 the returns gave the number of acres of 
private land at 47,500, valued at $187,400 ; the gross value of property, $452,247 ; 
taxable property, $315,600. The polls had diminished to 241. When the Oregon 
and California railroad entered Josephine county value rose considerabty, as we see 
by the assessment rolls of 1883, which give the value of the 55,889 acres of private 
lands as $227,746 ; the gross value of property, $563,880 ; taxable, 392,351 ; and the 
number of polls had increased to 547. The average assessment of lands was $4.07 ; 
there were 854 horses and mules taxed, 2,070 head of cattle, 2,700 sheep and 2,359 
hogs. The population of Josephine county, as given by the census of 1880, was 2,400 
souls ; which by the influence of steam communication has probably been increased to 
nearly 3,000. 

With the foregoing facts concerning the resources, extent and growth of Josephine 
county in mind, and its new advantages of access, the reader will doubtless be able to 
form conclusions as to its future. In regard to its agricultural importance, it must 
always remain very limited ; but not so as to the culture of special products. There 
is an abundance of land suitable for fruit growing, on which can be raised a limitless 
amount of the more hardy and useful fruits of the temperate zone. With a very slight 
difference in climate, there is a strong parallel between the two counties of Jackson 
and Josephine as to nearly all the agricultural products which have been so far experi- 
mented upon. Probably every one of the fruits which have proved so signally suc- 
cessful in the Rogue river valley, would flourish equally well upon the hills of the 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 451 

Illinois and its tributaries. The once famed and prosperous valleys of Sucker, Alt- 
house, Galice and other creeks, exhausted of their golden store, may renew the pros- 
perity of their former days when the culture of the vine and the apple fills the vacant 
place of a decreasing- industry. Farms are offered for sale in the Illinois valley for 
one-half of the value they would command in the Rogue river valley. Much gov- 
ernment land remains unsold there, which would afford homes for many whose exer- 
tions would elevate the condition of agriculture aud benefit the county immensely. 
The soil of these tracts is pronounced excellent and highly productive. 

Though in its decadence, gravel mining is not by any means dead. Much valu- 
able ground remains to be worked, and for this purpose great preparations are made 
each year. With the introduction of immense hydraulic apparatus, the working of 
the gravel beds has become very rapid in comparison with the former mode of work- 
ing, whereby hundreds of hands are spared to other occupations. Doubtlc.s further 
explorations will reveal yet other deep gravel beds, whose working will afford a con- 
stant supply of wealth to their owners and to the county for many years. On quartz 
discoveries similar expectations may be safely based with even more certainty, since, as 
quartz mines require a longer time for their discovery and working, and are altogether 
less certain in their returns, it follows that this particular species of mining may not 
cease permanently as long as the country remains inhabited or gold retains any value. 



CHAPTER LV. 



THE ILLINOIS AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 

Importance of the Section— Illinois River — Deer Creek — Eight Dollar Mountain — Kerbyville — Sucker Creek — 
Fort Briggs — Althouse Creek — Browntown — Quartz Mining — Waldo — Gravel Mining— New Hydraulic 
Claims — Copper Mines — The Queen of Bronze. 

The principal historical events of Josephine county are found to cluster about 
Illinois valley. Along the river of that name and upon its tributaries by far the 
greater part of the mining has been done and still is doing, and the bulk of the pop- 
ulation of the county has made its home here. The greater portion of the arable land 
of the county lies upon or near Illinois river, and farming to a limited extent has been 
an important industry. The tillable land here is of a very rich quality, and produces 
excellent crops of small grain, corn, fruit and potatoes, usually sufficient to supply the 
very limited market of the immediate vicinity. In early years agriculture and min- 
ing bore the same relation as in Jackson county, and the same remarks are applicable 
with the exception that in Josephine the agricultural land is so limited in amount, that 
tilling the soil could never supplant the mining industry, nor could it afford occu- 
pation for the very large population engaged in that pursuit in the early years. Hence 



452 SOUTHERN OREGON 

we do not find any considerable class of gold-seekers retiring from their placers and 
settling on donation claims ; but when mining was in its decadence the swarms of men 
thrown out of lucrative employment, turned toward other mining districts beyond the 
borders of Josephine, and were lost to the county. 

Beginning with the Illinois river, we find the inhabited portion of its valley to 
have been the upper third of its length, lying between the California line and a point 
some miles below Kerbyville, where the stream enters a series of narrow and deep 
canyons, which continue to its mouth, thirty-five miles below. Along its shores no 
settlements have been made, and no human habitation ever existed there save an 
occasional miner's shanty, built by the hardy gold-seekers who were working the 
various bars of the lower Illinois. The stream is hardly to be called river, for in the 
rainless season its bed contains little water, but in winter it becomes a torrent, and 
dashes swiftly through its stony, rough and crooked channel. Low down the Illinois 
there is a tributary, Silver creek, so-called, which runs through a deep and precipitous 
canyon. This stream derives its name from a pretended discovery of silver ore upon 
its bank, from which arose quite an excitement, with all the concomitants of difficult 
accessibility, high assays, and finally the total collapse of the bubble. This happened 
in 1879. 

Higher up the Illinois, and within Josephine county, we come to the mouth of 
Deer creek, which enters from the east, rising in the divide between the Illinois and 
Applegate. Its name has an obvious derivation, and its valley has been the scene of 
many historical incidents. Here is a small extent of rich agricultural land, which 
early attracted settlers, and Mooney was the first to avail himself of the privi- 
leges of the donation law. It was in 1853 that he came. Soon after came William 
Wixom, followed by Philpot — whose murder by Indians is alluded to in the history of 
the Indian wars — and William McMullin. Philpot, it is said, was sitting upon his 
horse which was drinking from Deer creek, when concealed savages opened fire and 
pierced the rider with several bullets, killing him instantly. Besides this, there was 
the Guess catastrophe, also alluded to, wherein the head of the first family to settle in 
Deer creek valley was killed. The tragedy took place while the victim was plowing 
in his field. The bereaved widow subsequently removed to Salem, but after a resi- 
dence there of over twenty-five years, returned to the old homestead on Deer creek 
in 1882. 

In the midst of these troublous times Forts Briggs and Hayes were built, the latter 
being situated between Deer and Slate creeks, the former on Sucker creek. These were 
fortified farm houses, in which the surrounding settlers took refuge, and garrisons were 
maintained in each of them during the later Indian war. Fort Hays is on the Thorn- 
ton place, nine miles north of Kirbyville. The Indians besieged it for a short time, 
but ineffectually. At the time of the battle of Eight-Dollar mountain the troops 
rendesvouzecl there. The Hayes family who resided at the station gave name to it. 

Eight-Dollar mountain, the scene of an important but indecisive battle with the 
Indians in the early months of 1856, stands at the south side of Deer creek and in the 
angle formed by that stream and the Illinois. It is perhaps 3,000 feet in elevation 
above tide-water. A road passes over it which has been in use since the earliest years 
by travelers between the Illinois and Rogue river valleys. The mountain derives its 



A 



d 







o^yf^^^Y je/t 




3? 




JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 453 

name, it is said, from the price of a pair of boots which some one wore out in a single 
day's tramp over its rough surface. Who the wearer was is differently stated, but is of 
no consequence. The eminence is in the pine region, and good timber of that sort is 
abundant. 

At the mouth of Deer creek occurred yet another tragedy in the killing of Horace 
Seeley, James Elzey and a German nicknamed Dutch Pete, in the latter part of Feb- 
ruary, 1856. These men with M. Ryder, A. Ryder, Coyle, Frank Larkin, and two 
others, were engaged in mining on Deer creek bar, where they were surprised by Indians, 
and these three were killed, the others retreating. Anthony Ryder was wounded, 
but escaped. This incident occurred on the twenty-sixth of February, 1856. 

Six miles below Kerbyville, on the Illinois, is Dead Fish bar, a considerable mining 
locality, the most valuable claim being once the property of Peter Reiser, but now 
owned by W. W. De Lamatter. In the condition of mining at present these are some 
of the most important placer claims in the whole country. The gravel beds are exten- 
sive and on the claim mentioned are worked by a hydraulic stream whose fall is 200 
feet. On the other claims ground-sluicing is chiefly resorted to. 

The history of early times on Josephine creek embraces a vast deal of interesting 
matter, relating to mining and prospecting and to Indian troubles, from which the 
miners of the stream and Canyon creek were not by any means exempt. The incident 
of the escape of John M. Bour, Billifelclt, George Snyder and another, from Indians in 
the fall of 1853 is given. The party of four stood a siege for many hours and after nightfall 
left their cabin and getting past the savages, found safety in another camp. Mr. Bour 
now resides on the Illinois river several miles below Kerbyville, and is supposed to be 
the oldest resident of the county. He came to Canyon creek in August, 1852. At 
Pearsall bar, on the Illinois, and about fifteen miles below Kerbyville, Mr. Tedford was 
mortally wounded by Indians, and Rouse, his partner, severely cut with an axe, as 
previously recounted. 

Still further up the Illinois is Kerbyville, the county seat and the most import- 
ant place in Josephine ■ county. It is in the extreme northern part of township 39, 
south, range 8, west. The place was named for James Kerby, who took a douation 
claim there in 1855, or thereabouts. Two years later, or in 1857, the town-site was 
laid off in anticipation that the county seat, then at Waldo, would be changed to a 
more central locality. Dr. D. E. Holton purchased a part of the Kerby claim, and became 
instrumental in bringing about the change. S. Hicks had been a partner with Kerby 
originally, but in 1857, or the following year, he abandoned his portion of the claim, 
and C. R. Sprague, who squatted upon the land, also left, selling his rights to John B. 
Sifers, who got a patent for his land. The new town became a commercial center of 
importance, and yet retains a standing as such. The first building was erected by Dr. 
Holton in 1857, it being a residence. The second building of importance was a hotel, 
now existing, and owned by M. Ryder. This was built by G. T. Vining, and was con- 
sidered an extraordinary structure, indeed, it being really a large and commodious 
house. At the same time, Vining built a store and filled it with a stock of merchan- 
dise, and began to traffic. David Kendall was his partner. Captain M. M. Williams, 
an enterprising Scotchman, who signalized himself in the Indian war of 1856, also 
built a store, which he rented to the firm of Koshland & Brother, traders. Morris & 



454 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Taylor, another firm of merchants, soon after built a fine store, over which was a hall 
occupied by the Free Masons. This latter building was burned. In 1857 or 1858, a 
grist-mill was erected by Crawford & Docld. At the time of these improvements min- 
ing was very active in the neighborhood. The bars of the Illinois river were being 
worked satisfactorily, and Josephine county was seeing its palmiest days. A long and 
costly bridge across the river at Kerbyville was built by Colonel Backus. It cost 
$7,000, was 600 feet long, the center span was 120 feet, and it was the principal struc- 
ture of the kind in Southern Oregon. The county seat had been moved to its present 
location, and affairs were extremely lively. In 1858, there were five saw and grist- 
mills in the county, and the same number of school houses. Kerbyville was described, 
in 1858, as improving rapidly, and being the liveliest town of its size in the state. It 
had two large stores, two splendid hotels (the Eagle, kept by C. C. Fairfield), a livery 
stable, barber shop, and billiard saloon. The Crescent City stage arrived every other 
day, bringing many passengers, and taking away much treasure — the product of the 
mines. By act of the legislature of January, 1859, the name of Kerbyville was 
changed to Napoleon — doubtless because of the renowned French emperor, who had 
just conquered the Austrians — but this cognomen failed to cohere, and Kerbyville the 
place remains, except that most people are now in the habit of leaving off the final 
syllable of the town's name, and calling it Kerby. On September, 23, 1861, a destruc- 
tive fire occurred, the loss being about $8,500. At present the village contains the county 
buildings ; stores of general merchandise, kept by Naucke and De Lematter, respectively ; 
a hotel, of which M. Ryder is proprietor ; a livery stable also owned by Mr. Ryder ; 
and two saloons. 

Proceeding up the east fork of the Illinois, the traveler finds himself in the center 
of what once was the most productive mining region in Oregon. This fork, with its 
affluents, Althouse and Sucker creeks, and Democrat gulch, have long been celebrated 
as placer mining localities, and yet remain productive to some extent. Sucker creek — 
named thus on account of some Illinoisan miners — rises in the Siskiyou mountains 
and flows west-southwest and falls into the east fork at a point nine miles north of the 

State line, and five miles south of Kerbyville. The first settler on the creek was 

Rhoda, who established a dairy in 1852, but did not remain long. Early in 1852 the 

first house in that region was erected by A. G. Walling, E. J. Northcut and Bell, 

near the mouth of Democrat gulch, and there sold supplies to miners on Sucker and 
Althouse creeks. At this place, known as " Walling's ranch," miners left their horses 
in charge while they remained at the several diggings. Walling & Company sold to 
Cochran in 1853. The Briggsand other land claims were early taken up. Whefi the 
Indian war of 1855-6 commenced, the people of Sucker creek, then rather numerous, 
experienced some of the ills attending it, and several narrow escapes were run. In the 
fall of 1855 Elias Winklebeck was pursued by the Indians and compelled to take 
refuge in Sucker creek, where he lay with only his head out ; the enemy failed to 
notice his location, and he escaped. During hostilities Fort Briggs was prepared, 
wherein the surrounding settlers and miners took refuge to the number of eighty or 
more.. This was simply a palisade constructed so as to enclose George E. Briggs' log 
house. Mrs. Briggs, widow of the former owner, still occupies the building. Elijah 
Johnson was mortally wounded by the Indians on Althouse creek, and being taken to 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 455 

Fort Briggs, died there some time afterward. Daniel Wiley, another victim, was 
killed at the time .Johnson was wounded. This occurred on October 30, 18")."). 

There is a pleasant anecdote relating- to an incident of Sucker creek mining life 
that has been often narrated. A culprit had broken into Smith Brothers's store — kept. 
on the creek in 1857 — and being apprehended, was taken before J. D. Post, justice 
of the peace, for examination, and was held to answer before a higher court; but as 
Josephine county had no jail, and the accused no money to put up as bail, his honor, 
the justice, released the fellow, compelling him to sign a note for fifty dollars to secure 
his appearance at the proper time. 

In the spring of 1858, prospectors found quite extensive placers at the head of 
Sucker creek, which they named Sepoy diggings. At this time the other mining- 
interests on the creek were in their decadence, and have steadily diminished in impor- 
tance until the present, when some forty persons only are at work, half of these being 
Chinese. Sucker creek possesses a sawmill, built in 1868 by Beach, Platter & Brown, 
and now owned by the two former partners. Its capacity is slight, the total daily 
product being 1,000 feet of lumber. It is situated three miles above the mouth of 
the creek. 

Althouse creek, a still more celebrated and important mining locality than any 
yet mentioned, empties into the east fork at the mouth of Sucker creek, and like 
the latter stream, also rises in the Siskiyou range. Its course is northwest, and it 
receives several small tributaries. All the region round about is famed for its mining 
operations in former times, and is replete with historical incidents of importance. 
Althouse creek was named for Philip Althouse, who was one of the party who first 
prospected the stream in 1852. In a very short time a large number of miners had 
arrived, and hundreds of claims were staked out, over ten miles of the creek bed being- 
occupied within a year. In 1853 it was supposed that nearly 1,000 men were mining 
there, though not all at once. 

A village — named Browntown, in honor of "Web-foot" Brown, the pioneer 
Brown of the vicinity — was started and it speedily became a point of much importance. 
At one time Browntown was supposed to have had from 300 to 500 inhabitants. Near 
by was a less important place, called Hogtown, which was regarded as a Brooklyn to 
its greater neighbor. The Althouse diggings continued to pay excellently for half a 
dozen years, and the population remained very large. In 1858 the miners were said 
to be prospering finely. The hills near Browntown were being tunneled into, the sur- 
face having mostly been worked. In the south hills were the Virginia Tunnel Com- 
pany, Patten & Company, Peterson, Drake & Company, Lanigan, Miller & Company, 
and others, all doing well, for coarse gold, frequently in large water-worn slugs, was 
abundant. Althouse creek was noted for its yield of coarse gold in the early days of 
mining it. The largest slug of pure gold was found about a mile and a half above 
Browntown, weighing nearly twelve hundred dollars. 

The region fell gradually into decay with the decrease of mining and at a faster rate 
than any other section of the country. In 1865 Althouse was said to have " nearly 
winked out," and was compared to Goldsmith's Deserted Village, as to its air of deserted 
loneliness. Since that time the process of decay has continued, and in spite of many 
attempts to revive it, the locality contains little to show but the remains of its former 



456 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

activity and importance. Browntown, Hogtown and Frenchtown are known only 
by their names, and nothing is left of them but the indestructible refuse of mining 
camps, the tin cans, the culinary vessels and the rough stone chimneys of miners' 
cabins. Nevertheless, all life and energy has not passed away. A few gravel miners 
remain, and in Democrat gulch some work is being done. On the Althouse is one of 
the most remarkable and extensive engineering works ever constructed in Oregon for min- 
ing or any other purpose. These are the drainage tunnels through the divide between 
that stream and Illinois valley below Democrat gulch. In 1871 Frederic and Peter 
Hansen, Gustaf Wilson and Chris. Lutz commenced the first of these tunnels, which 
is 1,200 feet in length, and succeeded in turning the water of Althouse through it. In 
1865, Beach, Platter and Leonard projected another tunnel, similar to the first, tapping 
Althouse creek half a mile above the first one and ending near the mouth of Demo- 
crat gulch. This was completed after ten years's work, occupying a force averaging 
five men for that time. The tunnel is six by seven feet and contains a flume four by 
four feet, through which passes the water of Althouse creek. The object of draining 
certain mining ground on the creek was not fully attained, as the tunnel is above the bed- 
rock of the stream. The projectors were Beach, Platter and Leonard, who sold to 
Harvey S. Brown, of San Francisco, in 1877. In 1877 Beach and Platter erected and 
stocked a store in Democrat gulch, which they still carry on. A post office was estab- 
lished there in the same year, of which C. H. Beach has since been postmaster. 

Althouse, in common with the rest of Southern Oregon,' had a quartz excitement 
in 1860. At that date the Enterprise mine, three miles east of Browntown, was 
opened and worked with profit for a time, being abandoned in 1867. The vein was 
from eight to eighteen inches thick and was in metamorphic sandstone. By arastra 
process the quartz yielded twenty-six dollars per ton. Two tunnels were run and a 
large body of pay ore exposed. In 1875 the Oregon mining and milling company 
re-located this claim and bought several other quartz leads upon the Althouse, and set 
to work to revolutionize mining. They built a ten-thousand-dollar mill at Browntown, 
with five stamps, amalgamating pans, settlers and other apparatus. The motive power 
was water. The properties owned by the company were the Enterprise — otherwise 
called the Gold Back or Cohen mine — the Sucker ridge claim, Yankee Doodle mine, 
Jesse Banclall ledge, several reputed silver lodes said to be astonishingly rich, and the 
Althouse ledge, near the crest of the hill opposite the mill site. After a few months 
of active prospecting the company suspended operations, and have not since resumed 
them. Another association, the Webfoot quartz mining and milling company, J. M- 
Tiernan superintendent, succeeded them in 1878, and proposed to establish reducing 
works containing a reverberatory furnace for treating sulphurets containing gold. 
They, too, suspended, and the presumed rich quartz ledges on and near the Althouse 
now lie neglected. 

Waldo is situated on Sailor gulch, between the east and west forks of Illinois 
river, and only three miles north of the California state line. It has been, and still is, 
an important mining camp and celebrated for the amount of gold taken out in the 
earlier years. The camp and regions round about were at first called Sailor Diggings, 
having been discovered by a party of seamen in 1852. At a later period, when the 
place had grown much in imj)ortance, its name was changed to that in use at present, 




L. L.Williams Monument 
Odd Fellows Cemetery, Roseburg. 



W/tl.UNG.llTII.J'aHTlAHO. Ox. 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY 457 

in honor of a California politician, made the more applicable as the place was thought 
to be in that state. In 18")"), Waldo had grown to be the largest town in the county, 
and was advanced to the dignity of county seat when Josephine was set off from Jack- 
son county. This eminence it did not retain long, but was succeeded by Kerbyville, 
as a more central and convenient location. The population of Waldo, in 1856, is 
thought to have been 500 persons. The place continued to improve in later years, and 
in 1858 several substantial buildings were being put up, among others, a large hotel. 
In 1851, Hunt's ditch brought water to Shelby gulch, where many miners were work- 
ing. At the same time, the Butcher gulch flume was in operation, and two saw-mills 
were turning out and selling 20,000 feet of lumber per week, and trade was very brisk. The 
village passed through the ordinary mutations of a mining camp, and has fallen off 
very much in later years, but retains more of its pristine greatness than most other 
places in the county. It is favored by being on the stage road to Crescent City, and 
particularly advantaged by the deep and extensive beds of auriferous gravel near by, 
which are a great resource, but not to be worked until of late, for want of water. 
Bringing on a hydraulic stream in 1880, Wimer, Simmons & Company took out con- 
siderable wealth in a season's work, and since then the firm of Simmons & Ennis have 
brought water from a distance of four miles, and have completed preparations to work 
a very large and valuable deposit of gravel, superior, it is said, to any other known 
deposit in Oregon. Their ditch is ten feet wide and four feet deep, their hydraulic 
pipe twenty-two inches in diameter, and the working head, 150 feet. They will be 
able to pipe during half the year. This claim is three miles from Waldo. 

In the vicinity of Waldo exist some very promising and important beds of copper 
ore. Of these, the mine called Queen of Bronze is best known. The first indications 
of the metal were found in 1859, when a small piece of native copper was picked up. 
Prospectors soon found some lodes of that metal, the mine mentioned being one of 
them. This ledge is no less than fifty feet thick at a depth of thirty feet, and fourteen 
feet of this is said to be pure sulphide, the most valuable of all the ores of copper. 
Much of the ore from this and surrounding claims contains fifty, or more, per cent, of 
metal. In 1864, the ore from the claim of Emerson & Company assayed sixty-five 
per cent. In that year, the Queen of Bronze mine was being developed. No use of 
these dejjosits of wealth have ever been made, and no work of any consequence has 
been done in the claims, beyond developing two or three to some extent. The present 
high price of copper, far above what it has been for many years, should stimulate the 
owners of these lodes to endeavor to realize upon their undoubted stores of metal. 

5ft 



CHAPTER LVI. 



NORTHERN SECTION OF THE COUNTY. 

Applegate Creek — Williams' Creek — Murphy's Creek — Slate Creek — Galice Creek — A Quartz Excitement — 
Origin of Names — Romance of Grave Creek — Lucky Queen and Other Mines — The Oregon and Cali- 
fornia Railroad — Tunnels — Reminiscences — Hungry Hill — In Memorium. 

Crossing the water-shed to the north of Illinois valley, the traveler comes to the 
Applegate river or creek, a considerable stream, which, as before said, rises in Jackson 
county and flows northwest into Rogue river, near the center of Josephine county. 
It is a noted stream, made so by the mining operations which have been carried on 
upon its banks since the earliest years. Its valley is not very extensive, but quite a 
number of farms have been cultivated there, and the soil is found to be very productive, 
and particularly favorable to the growth of fruit trees. The Redlands nursery, the 
most extensive establishment of the kind in the whole region, is a fine example of the 
capacity of the soil for plant and tree growing. This is located on the Applegate, at 
the mouth of Oscar creek, a small tributary. Some 6,000 young trees, principally 
apple, pear, plum and peach trees, have been set out by A. H. Carson, the owner, and 
are thriving luxuriantly. 

Applegate creek receives several affluents in Josej^hine county, the principal ones 
being Williams', Murphy's and Slate creeks, all of which rise in the divide between 
Applegate and Illinois rivers, and flow north or northeast into the former stream. 
The first of these is a stream of some celebrity, both as a mining and an agricultural 
region. Williams' creek was named for Captain Robert Williams, the noted Indian 
fighter, who skirmished with the natives on this creek in 1853. Previously, a detach- 
ment of another company, under B. B. Griffin, fought the same enemy, losing two 
men. The placers of Williams' creek remained untouched until 1859, when nearly 
every other deposit in the county had been worked, and most of them exhausted. In 
that year the town of Williamsburg, situated upon the creek in the midst of the newly 
discovered placers, was founded, and grew rapidly. Several families resided there, 
and at one time a dozen trading posts were in operation. About 300 miners were 
working in the immediate neighborhood, some of whom made twenty dollars per day 
each. A school house was erected, a tri-weekly stage made trips to Jacksonville, and 
the place had become a worthy successor of Browntown and Sailor Diggings, in the 
matter of liveliness and importance. C. W. Savage kept a hotel and lodging house, 
and Duncan put up a saw mill two miles below town and did a large business in the 
manufacture and sale of lumber. J. T. Layton, still a resident of the vicinity, and 
for many years a very prominent miner, devised a plan for bringing water to the dig- 
gings, and in company with Maury, Davis and O'Neil, completed nine miles of ditch, 
which first delivered a stream of water in Williamsburg on August 11, 1859. Thus 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 459 

within a few months the camp had become an important one and prosperity abounded. 
In due time the mines were exhausted, and the busy workers sought other fields. 
Williamsburg became an abandoned mining camp, a type of the thousands of other 
deserted villages of the same sort. But the creek still retains some importance by 
reason of the deep gravel deposits found there, which require hydraulic apparatus to 
work them. Mr. Layton has remained on the spot and conducted some heavy opera- 
tions, frequently with success. A generation of farmers have occupied and cultivated 
the fertile valley of Williams' creek, where their farms have the advantages of excel- 
lent soil, as good as any in Southern Oregon, and there is a sufficiency of water. 
They have organized themselves into an association called Washington Grange, which 
dates its beginning from 1875, and possess a hall and a store, valued in all at $5,000- 
W. W. Fiddler had the honor of being the first master of this Grange, a gentleman of 
literary ability, and who, while residing here, wrote an interesting account of the 
remarkable cave on Williams' creek, which is one of the wonders of this region and a 
rival in some degree to the famous Mammoth and Luray caves of the Eastern states. 
It is limestone and contains a complex series of rooms and passages adorned with beau- 
tiful stalactites and stalagmites, produced by the continually dripping of water which 
holds lime in solution and deposits it when exposed to the air. 

Some miles below the mouth of Williams' creek, the stream called Murphy's creek, 
flows into the Applegate. This is a small water-course named for Barney Murphy, 
who, in 1852, took the first land claim ever held in the vicinity. His location was near 
the mouth of the creek. Upon the stream are a grist mill and saw mill, driven by 
water-power ; and near the mouth is the postoffice and way-station named Murphy, 
kept now by James Wimer. This station is upon the stage road leading from Jack- 
sonville to Josephine, which follows along the south side of the Applegate. Murphy's 
creek, and its vicinity contain nilny small tracts of land suitable for the homes of 
industrious and persevering settlers, who would easily find a market for their surplus 
produce. This remark applies to the Applegate valley in general. 

The third and last of the three streams, Slate creek, receives its name from the 
character of its rocky bed. It rises in the southwest, toward the head of Deer Creek, and 
flowing with a rapid current, pours its waters into the Applegate, two and a-half miles 
above the mouth of that stream. Its discharge is sufficient for the propulsion of very 
heavy machinery, for which purpose it may likely come in use. It abounds in trout, 
the woods along its borders contain game, and the comparatively limited amount of 
tillable land near by is of good quality. Besides, there are deposits of auriferous gravel 
which have been worked somewhat, and may yet prove of value. Bybee, Hawkett & 
Company's claim is one of the best. The village or hamlet called Wilderville, situated 
near the mouth of the creek, is the only location of any note. Here, at one time, was 
the Junction house, so-called from being at the union of two roads, the Crescent City 
and the Kogue river and Applegate highways. In 1857, this hotel was kept by Oliver 
J. Evans. The name Wilderville is derived from Joseph L. Wilder, who laid out a 
town, hoping that it would become the county seat, which its exact central location 
seems to fit it for, but the people, in 1880, voted against removing it from Kerbyville. 
Wilderville now contains a postoffice and a store of general merchandise, established in 
1879, by Chapin and Nickell, but now owned by Vance and Birdsey. Near by is 



460 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Slate creek station opposite Wilderville, which was formerly the stopping place for the 
stage from Jackson to Kerbyville. J. Knight, in 1879, fitted up the place as an inn. 

Galice creek received its name from Louis Galice, a French miner who worked 
upon the stream in 1852, having been one of the first to prospect it. The stream has 
been a very important one on account of the mineral wealth contained in its banks, 
which were successfully worked for many years, and are not yet entirely exhausted. 
A good many miners came in the early years, for Galice creek was one of the earliest 
diggings after Josephine and Canyon creeks, and some time in those years Galliceburg 
was built up. This was not a camp exactly, nor a village, but was the spot where 
population was densest and was accepted as a centre, and given a name. At this place 
a trading post was established by Wills, and McCully had a hotel. There were saloons 
and the other concomitants of mining camps. The usual history of placer mining 
localities was enacted at Galice creek and the story is easily told. There were rich 
strikes, big jDay, deep or shallow gravel which paid from the grass-roots down, a sloping- 
bed rock, plenty or scarcity of water and a considerable output of gold. Then, having 
reached sometime in the fifties the climax of prosperity, the inevitable decline began 
and population and production fell off, the white miners left, to be replaced by Chinese, 
and Galice ceased to be of importance. During the Indian wars some incidents of an 
interesting nature occurred on or near the creek, the principal one being the memorable 
" siege of Galice creek " in the fall of 1855, by the savages, immediately after their 
raid through the northern part of Josephine county. This is sufficiently described in 
the history of the Indian wars. Another incident was the hanging of Chief Taylor, 
also previously adverted to. We see by the public prints that in 1858 the miners of 
Galice began to make claim to a high moral standpoint, and while freely confessing 
the previous deserved reputation of the Galice boys as drinkers of whisky, they pro- 
claimed an entire change in that respect. The shrewd critic discerns herein a symptom 
of the decay of the diggings, as only rich placers are able to support a population given 
to intoxication and merriment, and morals always flourish in proportion as the placers 
decline. A temperance society is less expensive than a saloon. 

The quartz excitement of 1860 was felt in Galice creek to some extent, and a vein 
was found three miles above Witt and Arrington's store, on the right hand fork of the 
stream. Sims, Martin, Cassiday and Dinsmore possessed the best claim. In 1874 
another excitement, local, but of more intensity than the first, broke out on Galice 
creek, in the month of December. The occasion of it was the discovery of the Mam- 
moth and Yank ledges, which are about 200 feet thick and extend across the bed of 
the Rogue river a short distance below the mouth of Galice creek. In less than a 
month 200 claims were taken on these immense veins, extending many miles along 
their axes. The excitement was kept up by the assayers' reports that gave in some 
cases several hundred dollars per ton. Gold was said to be visible in all the quartz 
taken out, and capital was earnestly besought to join with labor in utilizing the supposed 
enormous wealth of the great vein. The roads were lined with teams and individuals 
making their way to the new bonanza, and a great many miners and speculators from 
all parts of Oregon and California arrived at Galice in the middle of the rainy season. 
A wagon road to the nearly inaccessible^camp was proposed, and meanwhile Captain 
Pressley boated several tons of provisions down from the vicinity of Vannoy's ferry. 



3D 
m 
en 

o 
m 

CD 

m 



m 
< 



> r- 

co !Z 

CO 

m 
m 
zo 

<TD 

n 
m 



-< 




JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 4G1 

Saunders built a hotel, a good-sized building, and the firm of Gupton and Buck put up 
another. Some Ashland people incorporated a mining company with a capital of 
si, S( )().()( )('), to operate in mines, and two mills were proposed by other " capitalists," 
one to have forty stamps, the other fifty. Quartzville, a new town at the mines, was 
surveyed into lots which sold for fifty dollars apiece; and Yankville, otherwise called 
Lumberville, was a mile above and also held forth inducements to new comers. The 
lumber used in the building came mainly from the mouth of Jump-ofT-Joe, being floated 
down the river on scows, but a saw mill was soon afterwards built near the mines, which 
obviated the difficulty. Right here the history of the celebrated quartz excitement on 
Galice creek ends. There is no portion of the story which relates to the decline of 
these mines, for the process was too sudden to have a story. Every one got away as 
quickly as possible and left no indications of their stay, excepting an empty hotel and 
the sign " for sale " on the corner lots of the town of Quartzville, or Galice City. 

Three years later the Sugar Pine quartz ledge in Galice creek was discovered and 
worked by the Green brothers. At the time it was the only quartz mine in successful 
working in Oregon. There were two arastras, and the rock yielded from thirty to 
eighty dollars per ton, it was said. The firm still possess the mine, which is confidently 
stated to be a good property and a mine of permanent value. 

Avery large amount of hydraulic mining has been done on Galice creek, where 
extensive gravel beds exist. As early as 1858 the firm of Young and Company pro- 
posed to employ a hydraulic stream below Rich gulch. Nearly twenty years after quite 
an impetus was given to mining in general by the operations of the so-called English 
company, which purchased 500 acres of gold-bearing gravel and set about bringing 
water by means of a ditch several miles long. In the spring of 1876 the association 
began piping with great success, taking out $20,000, it was reported, for the season's 
work. They ran four giants at one time. Opposite their claim was that of D. C. 
Courtney, called the " Old Titus" diggings. This had a ditch seven miles long, buiit 
in 1878. At the Taylor diggings By bee had a hydraulic apparatus. The Centennial 
company and the Blue Gravel company also worked extensively in the same way, and 
some of these claims are still being mined upon. 

North of Rogue river the Oregon trail crosses two very celebrated streams, Jump- 
off-Joe and Grave creeks, names familiar to the inhabitants of all Oregon. These 
streams, with their tributaries-, rise in the northwestern part of Jackson county, flow 
westward into Josephine county and find their way into the Rogue river in that part 
of its course in which it runs northerly. These noted watercourses are of no great vol- 
ume, in fact, are insignificant brooks, excepting in the floods of winter. Into Jump- 
off-Joe flows Louse creek, and into Grave creek runs Wolf creek and Coyote creek. 
How these streams obtained their peculiar names has long been a much-asked question. 
More has been written on the subject than upon aught else belonging to their history. 
Louse creek, Wolf creek and Coyote creek require no explanation. Their cognomens 
are doubtless derived from the prevalence of those different species of wild animals 
upon their banks. As to Jump-off-Joe, report has it that some individual, known as 
Joe, was compelled to leap into the stream to escape danger. But these reports cannot 
be traced to any authentic source. Probably the stories of Joe McLaughlin, Joseph 
Lane and the other Joes were invented to account for the name, and were not its real 



462 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

origin. It seems by far the most probable conclusion that the name arises from some 
Indian word, of whose sound " Jump-off- Joe " is an imitation. The present name is 
said to have been applied as early as 1837, which is highly possible. 

The derivation of the name Grave creek carries with it a romance of no ordinary 
cast. In 1846 the Applegates, as has been said, piloted the immigrants of that year 
to Oregon by the newly explored southern route. Among these people was a family 
named Crowley, who had a daughter, Martha Leland Crowley, who was taken ill and 
died at the crossing of the stream called now Grave creek. She was buried there, 
under the shadow of a pine tree, and in order that the Indians should not exhume her 
remains for the sake of her garments, all traces of the burial were obliterated, and cat- 
tle were corralled upon the spot. Her coffin w T as made from a wagon box, as is instanced 
by several persons who were personally more or less conversant with the affair, among 
whom are Theodore Prater, now in Lower California, and Mrs. Rachel Challinor, of 
Glendale, both of whom helped bury the deceased. The remains of the unfortunate 
girl, it would appear, were dug up by the Indians, though this fact has been disputed. 
Several persons contend that they have seen the grave before and after it was violated 
and therefore refuse to admit the possibility of a mistake in identity. Of these is Colonel 
Nesmith, who first set eyes upon the place of interment in 1848, and found that it had 
been opened and that the bones were scattered about the pit. These, says the colonel , 
were replaced, and the grave again partly filled with earth. According to the same 
authority, certain Indians who were killed a few days after the close of the war of 1853 
were also thrown into the grave, so that Miss Crowley's remains rest, perhaps, with 
those of the savages who desecrated her last abode. Mrs. Crowley, mother of the 
young lady, is now in Polk county, where she married Mr. Fulkerson, her first hus- 
band having died. There is a great deal of evidence to substantiate the truth of the 
above account, with the exception of the exhumation of the body, which, after all, is 
scarcely material to the subject of how Grave creek got its name. There would ordi- 
narily have been no doubt on the subject had it not been that the history of Josephine 
county deals with another young lady, the Miss Josephine Rawlins, or Rollins, from whom 
the county's name is derived, as previously related, and the two females, though not by 
any means contemporaries, have become confounded together in some measure, as such 
accounts inevitably will, when only preserved through people's recollections. Thus from 
the death and burial of Miss Crowley, Grave creek obtained its name. In after years a 
famous place of entertainment for travelers was opened here by Bates, who afterwards 
sold to two men, James Twogood and Harkness, who remained until the latter's death 
by Indians in the spring of 1856. Twogood is said to be now living in Boise, Idaho. 
They named this place, previously called the Bates' tavern, the Grave creek house ; 
and when, in 1854, the legislature changed the name to Leland creek, in honor of the 
girl we have been speaking of, the firm of Harkness and Twogood called their place 
Leland creek house. By the name of Leland the post office at the creek is known, 
but the ancient name of Grave creek seems ineradicable, and is interwoven with many 
scraps of the country's history. 

In mining the northern part of Josephine county has had something of a record. 
In the upper part of Grave creek valley a great deal of gravel has been found contain- 
ing gold, and the deposits have been worked with ordinary success. Hydraulic appa- 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 4(53 

ratus has been instituted in quite a number of instances, and several ditches of consid- 
erable length and capacity have been constructed for the purpose of supplying the pipes. 

On Wolf and Coyote creeks, a similar experience has been had. On the latter stream, 
and in Jackson county, is the Coyote Creek Mining Company's claim, better known as 
the Kelly-Ruble location, which is now regarded as the richest mining ground in the 
county, and is the subject of an important lawsuit. 

Besides containing large amounts of gravel of a rich sort, this portion of Josephine 
county abounds with ledges of quartz, many of which have been prospected, with good 
results. The Esther or Browning mine, on Grave creek, and the Lucky Queen mine, 
on Jump-off-Joe, have attracted the most notice. The latter is situated two and a-half 
miles east of the stage road and very near the county line. It was the property of a 
joint-stock association of men, mostly residents of Southern Oregon. The works on 
and in the mine are believed to be the most extensive in the state, the aggregate 
length of shafts and tunnels being nearly 1,000 feet. The ore is very complex, con- 
taining various base metals, besides silver and gold, and assays, in places, very high. 
A ten-stamp mill was built in 1875, and included various experimental devices for 
extracting the gold. For several years, work progressed at the Lucky Queen, but 
suspended finally in 1879. 

Of still greater importance than gravel or quartz mines, the railroad next claims 
the reader's attention. The progress of the Oregon & California line through the Cow 
creek and Grave creek country was marked by some of the most difficult of engineer- 
ing works, of which the most considerable are the nine tunnels found between the South 
Umpqua and Jump-off-Joe. The length of these are officially given as follows, begin- 
ning with the most northerly : Tunnel, number one, forty-six miles south of Roseburg, 
258 feet; two, 382 feet; three, 442 feet; four, 323 feet; five, 340 feet; six, 514 feet; 
seven, 109 feet; eight (known as Cow creek tunnel, between Cow and Wolf creeks), 
2,805 feet; nine (Grave creek tunnel), 2,112 feet. The altitudes of several places on 
the road are as follows : Rosebarg, 485 feet; Glendale, 1,440; Cow creek tunnel, 
1,619; Grave creek tunnel, 1,549 ; the Rogue river crossing, 1,169. Within Jose- 
phine county there are thirty and one-half miles of road, upon which are several quite 
long and lofty trestles and bridges. The Brimstone trestle required over half a mil- 
lion feet of lumber in its construction, and the Grave creek bridge is 120 feet high, its 
central span is 120 feet long and the bridge, with its approaches, is 424 feet in length. 
The cuts are on a scale commensurate with the tunnels and trestles, and many of them 
are in such extremely soft ground that the difficulty of maintaining the road is 
immensely increased by reason of the land-slides which are prone to take place. 

From the foregoing, it will easily be seen that northern Josephine is not by any 
means deficient in interest. Almost the first events of which the student of Southern 
Oregon history has knowledge, were enacted on the old California and Oregon trail, 
and many a scene of romance and danger has since been viewed there. In the early 
Indian wars, that locality was the scene of the terrible murders committed by the 
revolting savages, and many of the victims of their famous raid were settlers in the 
Josephine county of a little later date. Here, too, occurred the active operations which 
took place in the following war of retribution against the natives. The Grave Creek 
House was the headquarters of a contingent of the volunteer army. In the Grave 



464 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

creek hills, some miles west of the railroad line, there took place the first, and perhaps 
the most important battle of that war. This was Hungry Hill, for a description of 
which action the reader is referred to previous pages of this book. The locality of 
this fight will ever remain a classical spot, made interesting by the death of many 
brave and worthy men. This memorable field of strife is now almost unknown, save 
to the few present survivors of the volunteers, who occasionally visit it. Rank under- 
brush and grasses have usurped the place where blood was shed, and only those 
familiar with the ground can point out even the last resting place of the dead who 
fell there. Several persons, among them General Ross and J. W. Sutton (deceased in 
1879), both participants in the battle, have given utterance to a desire that the brave 
men who fell there should be honored with some kind of a memorial — a simple mon- 
ument, at least, whereby their graves might be known. Enlarging upon this idea, 
Mr. Sutton proposed a monument to the fallen of the Indian wars, to be erected by 
the public — a measure so just and patriotic as to excite surprise that it has not been 
carried out. To build such a monument should be the immediate work of the public- 
spirited people of Southern Oregon. Of a visit to the battle-field of Hungry Hill 
Mr. Sutton wrote, in a style worthy of Irving : 

" Some summers since, while passing the little cemetery, I halted for the purpose 
of visiting the grave of my old comrade. I stood beside the little row of graves that 
I found blended into one, the mounds now hardly distinguishable ; no board or stone 
at head or foot is found ; no one can tell these graves apart. In unity they met a 
common foe ; in unity they fell ; in unity they lay beneath the sod, awaiting the 
judgment day. In vain I sought to determine the grave of my old friend ; it was 
lost, lost amid its comrade graves. After a short search among the weeds and grass 
that covered the graves, I found a fragment of a half-decayed board, on which I 
could trace the inscription which my own hand had carved full twenty years before — 
'Jonathan Pedigo; killed by Indians at the battle of Hungry Hill, Oc- 
tober 31, 1855.'" 





^ Or * S 



Fold-out Placeholder 



This fold-out is being digitized, and 
will be inserted at a future date. 



CURRY COUNTY. 



CHAPTER LVIL 



DESCRIPTION AND RESOURCES. 

Position of the County — Extent— Streams— Forests — Harbors — Roads— Natural Resources— Beach Mining — 
Other Placers— Quartz— The Common Metals and Minerals— Lumbering — Condition of Agriculture— Fisheries. 

Curry county lies in the extreme southwest corner of Oregon. It is bounded on 
the north by Coos county, on the east by Josephine, on the south by the state of Cali- 
fornia, and on the west by the Pacific ocean. Its greatest length from north to south 
is about sixty-five miles ; its average breadth about twenty-eight ; and its area about 
1,500 square miles, or 960,000 acres. Curry is essentially a mountainous country, con- 
taining scarcely any level land in comparison with its whole area. It is a region of 
streams, large and small, and of trees, shrubbery and grass, and is variegated and 
diversified in the most extraordinary degree. The mountain ranges are not very lofty, 
but are much broken up, with their axes lying in every direction. The streams all 
find their way westward to the Pacific, through canyons and narrow valleys. The 
principal rivers and creeks, beginning on the north, are — New river, Floras creek, 
Sixes river, Elk creek, Euchre creek, Rogue river, Hunter's creek, Pistol river, Chetco 
river and Windchuck river — the last being at the California line. All these flow 
nearly a west course and enter the ocean. In the interior, Illinois river flows into Rogue 
river about twelve miles east of the coast line ; Silver creek, a small tributary of the 
Illinois, enters from the south : and John Mule creek, an affluent of Rogue river, enters 
that stream from the north side, near the Big Bend. All these streams are swift 
and turbulent, and with one or two exceptions have no long smooth reaches fit 
for even boat navigation. They are only mountain torrents, and like other streams 
of the sort are generally well stocked with fish, brook or mountain trout existing in the 
more rapid portions, while salmon and salmon trout swarm in certain seasons. The 
valleys of all these streams are very narrow, but each contains a small portion of very 
rich land which well repays cultivation. The rolling hills and the so-called " prairies " — 
which are simply small tracts devoid of trees — furnish the most excellent and abundant 
grasses. Generally speaking, the surface of Curry county is a vast forest of various 
soft and hard woods, over-spreading mountain, hill and valley, and clothing the land 
with a beautiful and variegated carpet of the richest colors. The growth of large ever- 
green trees is wonderful in its luxuriance, showing the great capacity of the soil for 
supporting plant growth. 

PO 



466 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

The coast of Curry county is comparatively regular and unbroken, and is conse- 
quently lacking in harbors and sheltered locations where shipping might take refuge 
from storms. The commerce of the region is subserved by some few landings, called 
summer harbors, and by the comparatively good and safe havens of Port Orford and 
the mouth of Rogue river. The former of these is the most promising and important 
in a commercial point of view, inasmuch as it furnishes an accessible anchorage, easily 
gained in time of storms, and sheltered from all but the southwesterly gales of winter. 
The bar at the mouth of Rogue river prevents its embouchure from being more than a 
tolerable fair weather port at present, but with the expenditure of capital it is thought 
it might be bettered very materially. Chetco has a summer harbor, but the isolation 
and small extent of the surrounding productive region, added to its nearness to Crescent 
City prevent it from attaining present importance. Several other less known landings 
exist, which may come in use for shipping lumber and dairy products. 

The mountains of the interior approach the coast at all points and frequently 
form rocky and abrupt headlands hundreds of feet high. As a consequence communi- 
cation by land is very difficult. From the northern verge of the country to a consid- 
erable distance south a smooth sea beach forms a sufficiently good road for horses and 
vehicles, but from Port Orford south to Chetco the highway, except for short spaces, is 
merely a trail. To the east there are no roads whatever, nor can there be without the 
expenditure of much money. The interior of Curry county is practically uninhab- 
ited, a few localities only excepted, where lumbermen or stock-growers have habita- 
tions. They have no roads, only trails. In 1878 a road was surveyed to 
Josephine county, but never built, although said to be plainly practicable. As early 
as 1852 a trail was laid out from Port Orford to intersect the Oregon and California trail 
at Grave creek, but the route was scarcely ever traveled. 

The natural resources of Curry county are various and considerable. Of the 
mineral kingdom there are gold, silver, coal, building stone, copper, iron and chromium, 
whose existence is a factor of value. Gold has been mined on the coast of Curry 
county for thirty years. The beach mines are a remarkable phenomenon, as the gold, 
in a very finely divided condition, is mingled with the black sand which has been 
washed up from the deep and deposited along the shores. The manner of extracting 
the gold from the sand, while it is a species of placer mining, is somewhat different in 
detail from the ordinary gravel mining on streams, inasmuch as the gold is finer, and 
therefore more liable to be carried away by the stream used for separating it from the 
sand. Besides, the gold is often coated with a substance thought by the miners to be 
iron rust. This coating interferes seriously with the operation of saving the gold, for it 
prevents its amalgamation with quicksilver, which it is necessary to use, because of the fine- 
ness of the particles. In former times the gold was saved by washing upon blankets and 
rough sluices, with " drops " containing perhaps a whole flask of mercury ; but after- 
wards amalgamated copper plates were introduced, as in quartz mills, which are more 
efficacious. The miners are considerably troubled by the tides and waves, which oblit- 
erate their workings and cover up the auriferous beds with layers of barren sand. 
Very productive mines have at times been discovered in the old beaches which are 
found many feet above the present water level, and these discoveries — called bluff dig- 
gings — can be worked with comparative ease and immunity from the ravages of ocean. 



CURRY COUNTY. 4(57 

The principal beach mines thus far worked have been found on the shore north and 
south of the month of Rogue river, and extending about twenty-five miles along the 
coast. This portion of the shore is called Gold Beach, a name that was given on the 
discovery of the ocean placers in early years. They are still worked occasionally with 
good results, and are regarded as equally reliable with ordinary placer mines. It is 
thought that this speciea of mining, now producing comparatively little, could by sys- 
tematic endeavor be made to pay well. The Cooley claims on Ophir beach are of this 
sort and are proving signally successful. The placer mining of Curry county is not 
entirely confined to the beach and bluff diggings alone, but good prospects have been 
found on many mountain streams, and well paying placers have been worked in many 
locations. On Rogue river and its tributaries, mining upon the bars has long been a 
favorite pursuit, and certain flats upon the main stream are regarded as very valuable 
for the metal contained therein. The Big Bend flat, in particular, is sanguinely con- 
sidered to be rich in gold. Sixes river is a stream of some note in mining affairs and 
its sands have been worked with fair results for some years and the claims are not yet 
abandoned. 

In quartz very little has been done in Curry county. Several veins of gold-bear- 
ing rock have been prospected, particularly about the headwaters of Sixes river, with 
encouraging results, but no mines of great consequence have been opened, nor have 
mills been built. A large area yet remains to be thoroughly prospected, and it is 
highly possible that good veins may be found. 

Several other minerals of value are found, The following brief estimate of their 
importance having been made by Mr. F. A. Stewart, of Port Orford : " Copper has 
been found in well defined leads just below the mouth of the Illinois, also along it, 
and on some of its tributaries, as well as in the ' Lake of the Woods' mountains just 
back of Ellensburg. Iron and chrome exist in fabulous quantities in many places, 
but generally too hard of access to attract capital for many years to come. On the 
Illinois exists a bed of chrome, which was pronounced in Swansea, England, to be the 
finest in the world ; but the cost of getting it to tide water precludes the idea of its 
shipment. Coal has been found in apparently large quantities, two miles above the 
mouth of the Illinois ; also above the Big Bend, and in various other localities. Quite 
large pieces have been picked up on the coast, four miles below Ellensburg, and, 
although of superior quality, it has never been prospected for. Freestone of the finest 
color and quality, constitutes the rocky headlands that make the summer harbor of 
Hunter's heads, and Mack's Arch. Yet these magnificent quarries, although so handy 
that their hugest stones could be swung by cranes upon the decks of vessels, secure in 
good harbors, are still untouched by the vandal, but magic hand of trade. Marble 
also has been found in many places, but generally in remote and retired situations, so 
little liable to be disturbed that it would make a very appropriate emblem of peace — 
especially for its whiteness and purity." 

In the production of choice lumber Curry county holds a very eminent place. 
The county generally is well wooded, with a heavy and dense growth of various timber 
trees, chiefly soft woods. The Port Orford cedar is the most valuable and important 
of these, and furnishes a large quantity of the finest lumber for finishing purposes, 
which finds a ready sale in San Francisco, at high rates. Two saw mills, the Elk 



468 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

creek and Hubbard creek mills, have dealt exclusively, almost, with this sort of lumber 
and have manufactured an enormous amount in the years of their activity. Secondary 
to this variety, are two species of fir, both valuable and abundant, and a considerable 
quantity of live-oak and other trees more or less valuable. Of the varieties of fir and 
cedar very large quantities exist, extending eastward to and beyond the borders of the 
county. Each and every stream is shaded by groves of these monster evergreens, 
which exist in countless numbers. The most activity is shown in manufacturing cedar 
lumber, but considerable attention has of late been given to the pine forests upon 
Rogue river, some distance up stream. The experiment of floating sugar pine logs from 
the extensive pineries of Josephine county was tried, but unsuccessfully. The design 
was to bring them to the steam mill at Ellensburg. Besides pine Rogue river is lined, 
particularly the lower portion of its course, with fir timber of immense size. 

The principal agricultural resource of the present day is grazing. The farming 
land of the county being confined to the narrow valleys at the lower part of the rivers 
and creeks, and to a small proportion of table land lying somewhat higher up, it fol- 
lows that the culture of farm products can never attain importance in comparison with 
other and more extensive sections. There is, however, ample opportunity for raising 
sufficient of the ordinary farm and garden products to satisfy the local demand, except- 
ing in isolated localities, which may continue to require importations of necessaries 
from outside places. The small amount of tillable soil in Curry county is of most 
excellent quality, producing immense crops of vegetables, and yielding fair amounts of 
wheat and other grains. Dairying and stock growing, particularly the latter, are the 
principal present and prospective supports of the small agricultural community, and 
are the pursuits of prime importance. A very large amount of grass of the best 
quality grows in the " prairies" (open spaces on the hills), and furnishes pasturage for 
a large number of cattle and sheep. In the matter of dairying, Curry county has the 
advantage that grass remains green for nearly the whole year, kept so by the ocean 
breezes, laden with moisture from the warm Japanese current. Hence, the best of 
butter can be produced, even from the natural grasses, while domesticated grasses also 
flourish excellently. Probably Curry county is able to produce as good a quality of 
butter as the far-famed dairies of Point Reyes, in California, which owe their pre-emi- 
nence to the same fact of the moist ocean climate of their locality. Probably equal 
facilities do not exist on the Pacific coast outside of Curry and Coos county, for making 
first-class butter and cheese. At present these facilities are by no means fully recognized 
and appropriated, for although several private dairies exist, they are only sufficient in 
number to demonstrate the value of this pursuit. The lack of speedy and regular 
transportation to San Francisco, the only reliable market, is, however, a very serious 
drawback and difficult to be remedied. 

The fisheries of Curry county are an important source of wealth. The salmon 
tribe frequent all the rivers and creeks in immense numbers, and a cannery has been 
established, of which we will speak further. In addition, there are several fisheries, 
so-called, where salmon are caught, and salted for export in barrels. On nearly all 
the streams similar establishments might prove profitable, owing to the abundance of 
the fish, and to their good quality. 



•,-i; ,-;, 




CHAPTER LVIII. 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE COUNTY. 

First Exploration of the Coast — Vancouver's Voyage — The Natives— Cape Blanco, or Orford— New Cities 
Founded Along the Coast — Captain Tichenor's Design— A Colony Formed — Siege of Battle Rock — Escape 
of the Nine — A Larger Force Left at Port Orford — T' Vault's Explorations— Sad Fate of Five Men— Hero- 
ism of Cyrus Hedden — Missionaries and Troops Arrive at Port Orford — Colonel Casey's Expedition — Dis- 
covery of the Beach Placers — Organization of the County. 

It has often been said and written that certain Spanish explorers of the last cen- 
tury visited and examined the coast of Curry county, and sailing northward, entered 
the mouth of the Umpqua river and refitted there. But this report cannot be traced 
to any source other than that Don Martin D'Aguilar, sailing along this coast in 1795, 
or thereabouts, discovered and named Cape Blanco, since known by that name and the 
name also of Caj)e Orford. The latter name was applied by a very celebrated English 
navigator, who visited these shores in 1792. His name was Captain George Van- 
couver, to whom the world is indebted for the first systematic and scientific examination 
of the northwest coast of America. Here follows the story of his voyage along the 
coast of Curry county, told in his own words : 

" On Tuesday, April 24, 1792, the northern point of St. George's bay [in Del 
Norte count} r , California], bore east two leagues distant. With a favorable breeze at 
southwest, our survey was continued northward along the shores, which are composed 
of high, steep precipices and deep chasms, falling very abruptly into the sea. The 
inland mountains are much elevated, and appeared to be tolerably well clothed with a 
variety of trees, the generality of which were of the pine tribe ; yet amongst them were 
some spreading trees of considerable magnitude. The shores were still bounded by 
innumerable rocky islets, and in the course of the forenoon we passed a cluster of them, 
with several sunken rocks in their vicinity, lying a league from the land, which falls 
back a little to the eastward and forms a shallow bay, into which we steered. As the 
breeze died away, and a strong current set us fast ashore, we came to anchor in thirty- 
nine fathoms water, bottom black sand and mud. The latitude of this station was 
found to be 42 degrees 38 minutes ; longitude, east, 235 degrees, 44 minutes [124 
degrees 16 minutes]. In this situation the outer rock of the cluster mentioned bore 
by compass south, sixteen east, six miles distant; a remarkable black rock, the nearest 
shore, was north, 64 east, distant three and a half miles ; a very high, black cliff, 
resembling the gable end of a house, north, one point east; the northernmost extremity 
of the mainland, which is formed by low laud projecting from the high, rocky coast a 
considerable way into the sea, and terminating in a low, wedge-like, perpendicular 
cliff, north, 27 west. This I distinguished by the name of Cape Orford, in honor of 
my much-respected friend, the noble earl (George) of that title. Off it lie several 
rocky islets, the outward most of which bore north, 38 west. 



470 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

" Soon after we had anchored, a canoe was seen pulling toward the ship ; and with 
the greatest confidence, and without any sort of invitation, came immediately alongside. 
During the afternoon two others visited the Discovery, and some repaired to the Chat- 
ham [a tender], from different parts of the coast in sight; by which it appears the 
inhabitants may have their residence in the small nooks that are protected from the 
westerly swell by the rocky islets. A pleasing and courteous deportment distinguished 
these people. Their countenances indicated nothing ferocious ; their features partook 
rather of the general European character ; their color a light olive ; and besides being 
protected in the fashion of the South Sea islanders, their skin had many other marks, 
apjmrently from injuries received in their excursions through the forests, possibly with 
little or no clothing that would protect them ; though some of us were of opinion that 
these marks were purely ornamental. Their stature was under the middle size; none 
that we saw exceeded five feet six inches in height. They were tolerably well limbed, 
though slender in their persons, and seemed to prefer the comforts of cleanliness to 
the painting of their bodies ; in their ears and noses they had small ornaments of bone; 
their hair, which was long and black, was tied in a club behind. They were dressed 
in garments made principally of the skins of otter, bear, deer and fox. Their canoes 
were wrought out of a single tree, were of the shape of a butcher's tray, and seemed 
unfit for use in sea-voyages. They were scrupulously honest, and did not entertain the 
least idea of receiving presents. We remained in this situation until near midnight, 
when a light breeze springing up, we weighed ; and at daylight we directed our course 
round the group of rocks lying off Cape Orford, comprehending four detached rocky 
islets, with several dangerous sunken rocks near them, on which the sea broke with 
violence. We passed close to the breakers, in soundings of forty-five fathoms, black, 
sandy bottom. Cape Orford, which is situated in .latitude 42 degrees 52 minutes, lon- 
gitude 235 degrees 35 minutes, at the extremity of a low projecting tract of land, forms 
a very conspicuous point, and bears the same appearance whether it is approached 
from north or south. It is covered with wood as low down as the surf will permit it 
to grow. Some of us were of opinion that this was the Cape Blanco, of Martin 
D'Aguilar ; its latitude, however, differed greatly from that in which CajDe Blanco is 
placed by that navigator ; and its dark appearance did not seem to entitle it to the 
name Blanco. North of this cape the coast takes the direction north, 13 east; and 
south of it towards Point St. George, south, 18 east. 

" The rocky islets which we had seen in such numbers along the shore, ceased to 
exist about a league to the northward of Cape Orford ; and in their stead, an almost 
straight, sandy beach presented itself, with land behind gradually rising to a moderate 
height near the coast, but considerably elevated in the interior, and much diversified by 
its eminences and productions, being generally well wooded, though frequently inter- 
rupted with intervals of clear spots, which gave it some resemblance to a country in an 
advanced state of cultivation." 

In the year 1851, a great impetus was given to business on the northwest coast by 
the discovery of the mines of Northern California and Southern Oregon. A great 
emigration set in toward those famous placers, and traffic of all sorts assumed an extrav- 
agant liveliness. Access to the mines was so difficult that from the first the invention 
and enterprise of many persons were stimulated to overcome the costly, difficult and slow 



CURRY COUNTY. 471 

land transit. Only by means of narrow mountain trails from the Willamette on the 
one hand, and the Sacramento on the other, could the valleys of Rogue and Klamath 
rivers be reached. The universal mode of locomotion was on horse or mule back, or 
in default of animals, by foot, and all merchandize was packed on animals over the 
steep and dangerous trails for hundreds of miles, and at fabulous cost. Enterprising- 
speculators, realizing that there was more money in providing for the miners than in 
being miners, set about exploring the northern sea-coast for suitable harbors near to 
the diggings, from whence merchandise could be sent by much shorter routes to the 
camps, and trade being diverted to the new sea-ports would serve to build them up and 
so put money in the purses of the far-seeing individuals who owned the town. Crescent 
City, Trinidad, Scottsburg, Gardiner, Umpqua City, and sundry other sea-ports of 
greater or less prominence sprang up, were surveyed and communication was established 
with the interior. Their fates have been various ; some have passed from existence 
entirely, and in no case have they arisen to the importance once prognosticated by their 
enthusiastic founders. 

Port Orford had its birth under similar circumstances, in 1851. The founder was 
Captain William Tichenor, still a resident of the place,.who has partaken of its fortunes 
for thirty-three years, and still has the strongest belief in its future importance. Cap- 
tain Tichenor was one of the earliest to navigate the waters of this coast in a steamship. 
Coming very early to California, as a sea-captain he held important positions in com- 
mand of vessels, and ultimately in 1851, made cruises from San Francisco to the 
Columbia in the steamer Sea Gull, and became acquainted with the coast between those 
ports, and its various harbors, which, as every one knows, are poor, and few in number. 
Becoming early impressed with the belief that Port Orford was the best haven of all 
of them, and thinking that it offered great advantages also in being nearer the mines 
to which he doubted not an easy and practicable route might be found, Captain Tichenor 
began to interest other people in his plan, and soon formed a colony consisting of nine 
men, whom he enlisted at Portland, Oregon, and set ashore from the Sea Gull when 
that vessel reached Port Orford on her down trip to San Francisco. The men, with 
fire-arms, ammunition, a small five-pound cannon, pro visions, tools and other necessary 
things were landed on the ninth of June, 1851, and the steamer proceeded on her way. 
The men's names were — W. H. Kirkpatrick, J. H. Egan, Joseph Hussey, Cyrus Hed- 
den, McCune, Ricleout, R. E. Summers, called Jake; P. D. Palmer and Slater. 

According to the narrative of Kirkpatrick, their leader, this is what befell the lit- 
tle band : 

On landing they found the Indian dwellers along the coast apparently friendly. 
They seemed to wish to trade. But when the steamer departed, difficulties appeared. 
The Indians became saucy, and finally, taking offense at something, withdrew in a pet. 
The whites, now thoroughly alarmed, took a position on Battle Rock, an isolated rock 
perhaps 100 yards from the main land, and only accessible therefrom at low tide, being 
surrounded with water at other times. Here they brought their five-pounder and pre- 
pared to make resistance if the enemy approached in a hostile manner. They had not 
long to wait. The next morning the Indians returned, some forty in all, armed with 
bows and arrows. They built fires and performed what was supposed to have been a 
war dance. More Indians came, swelling the number to sixty ; and these, united, came 



472 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

upon the island, disregarding the colonists' threatening to shoot. The latter withdrew 
to the highest part of the island, and were followed by the larger part of the savages, 
headed by a chief, who seized a musket from the hands of a white man, but was clubbed 
and driven away. The Indians began discharging arrows at the whites, and Kirk- 
patrick, seizing a fire-brand, fired the little cannon with considerable effect. " This 
threw them into confusion, which we followed up by a volley from our small arms, 
Three of them got into camp and were knocked down by gun butts. After fifteen 
minutes' fighting the Indians broke and fled, leaving thirteen of their number dead 
upon the island. They fled to the hills and rocks and shot arrows at us for some time. 
I afterward learned from an Indian at the mouth of the Umpqua that there were 
twenty killed and fifteen wounded. Four of our men were wounded. The Indians 
attacked us again in the afternoon, but without effect. Soon after a chief came upon 
the beach, and throwing down his arms, made signs that he wanted to come into camp 
We let him do so, when by signs he sought permission to take away the dead. This 
we let him do, and told him by signs that we would go away in fourteen days. When 
they had taken their dead they fired a few arrows at us and retired. We were 
troubled no more by them until the fifteenth day, when they attacked us again. 
There were many more in this fight than the other, at least fifteen to one of us. Their 
chief came up and urged them in tones that could be heard at least half a mile, but 
could not prevail on them to make a rush at us. They shot their arrows at us from a 
distance of 300 yards at least, but no one was hurt ; though several arrows fell in camp. 
We were in a critical condition. Our ammunition was about done — only eight or nine 
rounds being left — and we were surrounded by at least 150 Indians. The only alter- 
native left us was to take to the woods and make our way to the white settlements. 
Here fortune favored us ; the Indians withdrew, went down to the mouth of a small 
creek and kindled fires. Some stayed to watch us, but we went to work as if to 
strengthen our breastwork, and they, too, departed. Having now an opportunity, we 
escaped to the woods, taking only our small arms, and leaving the rest of our property 
in camp. We traveled through the woods for about five miles, and then went upon the 
beach. We had gone thereupon but a short distance when we met a party of thirty, 
all armed with bows and arrows and knives. We rushed toward them to give them 
fight in open ground, but they broke for the timber. Continuing a few miles further, 
we crossed a large stream of water. Here we took to the woods, traveling therein two 
days and nights, and then went out upon the coast. When we reached it we found a 
trail where a great many Indians had traveled up the coast. This we followed for about 
five miles to the mouth of a small creek ; here the trail turned back again. We trav- 
eled on the beach for about fifteen miles when we reached the mouth of Rogue river 
[Coquille probably]. Here we found two large villages of Indians who appeared to 
number 200, and prepared to fight. They kindled a fire on the top of the highest 
bluff near by. We had only the river between us, and had to take to the woods again. 
We travelled up the river about eight miles and crossed on a raft of logs. We kept 
two days in the woods and then came on the beach and spent four days, living on sal- 
mon berries. On the fourth day we procured some mussels, which revived us. We 
lived on them until we reached the Cowans (Coos) river ; here we got among friendly 
Indians and procured something to eat. But we had to give them the shirts off our 





Capt.Wm.Tichenor. 



CURRY COUNTY. 473 

backs to get them to ferry us over the river. When we crossed the stream, thinking it 
was the Umpqua, we continued up it ten miles, when we found our error. We then 
struck across the sand hills, waded a swamp and got to the coast. Next day we made 
the mouth of the Umpqua — it being the eighth day from camp — where we were 
warmly greeted and entertained by the settlers at Umpqua City and Gardiner." 

Captain Tichenor returned, it appears, but one day after the departure of the nine 
men, and was surprised and shocked to behold only such evidences of bloodshed and 
violence as left no doubt but that the unfortunate colonists had all been murdered by 
the natives. He returned to San Francisco firm in the belief that they were dead, but 
nevertheless, proceeded actively to colonize the place witn a strong force of men. He 
had no trouble to procure adventurers who were willing to undertake anything that 
promised excitement, and sixty-five volunteers presenting themselves, he embarked in 
the Sea Gull with those, and six persons who had more or less pecuniary interest in 
the venture, as well as several " agents,''" speculators, etc. They had an armament of 
a half-dozen field pieces, six-pounders, and a good assortment of small arms, and were 
capitally provided for an offensive or defensive war on a pretty large scale. James 
Gamble was commander of the colonists, in Captain Tichenor's absence, for the latter 
did not cease his voyages and become a regular inhabitant of his new town until about 
two years later. Fort Point was surrounded by pickets, and two block houses were 
erected of heavy logs, whereby the defense of the place was secured. Some of the vol- 
unteers proved insubordinate and had to be sent back to San Francisco, but beyond 
this no trouble occurred at Port Orford in the subsequent year or two. 

After landing the men and stores, the ship proceeded on her voyage to Portland , 
and there Captain Tichenor secured the services of Colonel T'Vault, so well known in 
the Rogue river valley in subsequent years. The Colonel had just returned from guid- 
ing Phil Kearney's force of regulars from Vancouver to their station in California, and 
being familiar with the Oregon trail, was thought a suitable individual for the work 
that Captain Tichenor had for him, which was to explore the country lying between 
the coast and that famous trail, and ascertain and locate a practicable route by which 
the people of Port Orford could communicate with the interior. He was accordingly 
engaged and brought to the port on the next voyage, and his subsequent adventures 
form a chapter not less thrilling than the siege of Battle Rock. Horses were shipped 
for use in the exploring expedition, and the new colony being well under way, T'Vault 
and his men started eastward about August 20. The sufferings and adventures of the 
little party were extraordinary, considering the short distance they penetrated and the 
amount they effected. They were excellently armed, each of the ten explorers having 
a rifle, and there were four pistols and sundry knives in the crowd. Nevertheless, they 
allowed themselves to go hungry in a land where game and fish of many sorts abound 
to this day. They arrived at a point some twenty-five miles due east of Port Orford, 
and being bewildered and desperate, abandoned their horses and started on foot toward 
the north, living on berries and roots. Their object was to reach the settlements on 
the Umpqua. Peaching the south fork of the Coquille, they followed that stream to 
its confluence with the middle fork, near the present town of Norway, and here en- 
gaged an Indiau to take them down the river in his canoe. Arriving within two miles 
of the mouth of the river the explorers proposed to land at a large Indian village to 



474 SOUTHEBN OEEGON. 

procure food/jj Some objected, fearful of the consequences, but the boat drifting into 
shallow water near the shore, the natives waded out, seized it and dragged it to the bank 
and entering the canoe, began an attack on the whites. This is best told in Colonel 
T'Vault's own words : " The Indians boarded the canoes and seized the arms, and the 
whites simultaneously made a rush for the shore. Brush fired a shot — the only one 
heard — and in less than fifteen seconds, the whites were completely disarmed, there 
being at least three Indians to one white man. I sprang into the water while Brush, 
who was held by the Indians, was endeavoring to follow, while they were beating him 
over the head with a paddle. I saw a canoe with a boy in it. The boy helped me 
in, put a paddle in my hand and pointed down the river. He helped Brush also in, 
and then immediately jumped overboard. We paddled to the southern bank, and 
landing, stripped ourselves of our clothing and crawled into the swamp. We traveled 
through briery chaparral most of the day and took to the beach at night. With the 
help of Indians we reached Port Orford. Mr. Brush had several inches of his scalp 
torn away. The names of our companions were A. S. Dougherty, Patrick Murphy, 
Thomas J. Davenport, L. L. Williams, John P. Holland, Jeremiah Byan, Cyrus Hid- 
den and J. P. Pepper." 

Williams and Hidden reached the shore, fighting as they went, the former being 
engaged by a large Indian who threw him, but Williams' knife did good work, and the 
two whites ran for the woods, Williams with an arrow shot into his body, entering his 
liver and emerging at the opposite groin. Hidden drew out the shaft, leaving the head 
and a three-inch socket in the wound. The two made their way along, holding their 
pursuers at bay with their rifles, and eventually escaping them. The wounded man 
soon began to suffer the most acute pains and begged to be allowed to lie down and die ; 
but his faithful companion stayed by him, bringing water, and supplying his wants as 
best he could. Hidden, it will be remembered, was one of the nine who left Battle 
Bock, and being somewhat acquainted with the country, they eventually succeeded, after 
eight terrible days of exertion and exposure, in reaching the Umpqua river and there 
found friends and assistance. For three years Williams lay helpless from his wounds 
and suffering intensely, while Hidden, with almost unparalleled devotion, nursed him, 
labored for the support of both, and eventually brought him through his troubles. 
The arrow head was extracted in 1854, and Williams, as is well known, lived a useful, 
active and valuable life for the remainder of his days. Hidden is now an honored and 
respected merchant of Scottsburg. 

In August, 1851, Doctor Anson Dart, superintendent of Indian affairs for Ore- 
gon, and Reverends Spalding and Parrish, two missionaries, friends of Dr. Whitman, 
of Waiilatpu, came to Port Orford on the Sea Gull, in order to investigate the Indian 
question and pacify the natives if possible. On the same steamer came a detachment 
of troops of Major Hathaway 's command, at Fort George (Astoria), under Lieutenant 
Whyman. A little later in the year Samuel Culver, Indian agent, arrived and took 
charge of Indian affairs at and near Port Orford, Dart and the two missionaries leav- 
ing on his arrival. More troops having been found desirable, General Hitchcock, in 
command of the department of the Pacific, ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Silas Casey, 
with a force of regulars, to Port Orford to investigate the condition of affairs and over- 
awe the natives by a show of force, and to proceed to hostilities, if necessary. 



CURRY COUNTY. 475 

Reaching that place with ninety men, Casey detailed a portion of his force to pro- 
ceed to the Coquille, as the story of the attack on T'Vanlt's exploring party had become 
known. Lieutenant. Stoneman, now governor of California, was an officer of the force, 
and to him fell the duty of driving the Indians from their principal village. This he 
effected by the fire of shells from a howitzer planted above the village. A large num- 
ber of natives were killed on this expedition and the moral effect of the operations was 
very great. In the same year the troops built the military post called Fort Orford, 
which remained occupied until the removal of the Indians in 1856 rendered it value- 
less, and it was abandoned. 

The beach mines along the coast of Curry county were discovered in 1853, and 
began immediately to be worked. Several hundred men were employed there in the 
following year, and the golden harvest continued for many years, but gradually fell 
off. The miners came mostly from San Francisco, landing at Port Orford or Crescent 
City, and business found its outlet by the same route. The county has always retained 
its connection with the California metropolis, and seems rather a colony of that place 
than a portion of Oregon. When the Indian war began, the mining interests, and in 
fact everything in the way of business was prostrated in Curry county, every inhabited 
place outside of Port Orford being devastated. Since then the county has maintained 
a slight but healthy rate of growth, and has now a population of about 1,300, who are 
all permanent settlers, whereas the mining population of the early years, while their 
numbers were probably greater, were only a floating populace, whose influence was not 
so valuable as that of a fixed community. 

Curry county, originally a part of Jackson and later of Coos, was set off from the 
latter county by an act of the legislature which took effect on December 18, 1855. 
This bill was introduced by Captain Tichenor, then a member of the legislature and 
in whose honor it was proposed to name the new county Tichenor ; but the captain 
modestly objecting, the present name was adopted instead. The name of Orford county 
had been previously suggested. The boundaries of Curry county were changed some- 
what in 1872 by legislative enactment amending the original act, and at present they 
are as follows : Beginning at the south line of section 21, township 30, range 15, west, 
the line proceeds eastward to the dividing ridge of Horse creek and Coquille river ; 
thence east along said ridge to the divide which forms the water-shed to the east of the 
tributaries of John Mule creek ; thence south to the parallel of forty-two degrees ; 
thence west to the Pacific ocean ; thence northward along the shore to the point of 
beginning. 



CHAPTER LIX. 



THE PRINCIPAL INHABITED LOCALITIES. 

The Northern Boundary — Denmark — Floras Flat — Sixes River — Port Orford — Its Harbor — Proposed Breakwater 
and Railway — Saw Mill— Ellensburg — First Arrivals — Affairs in early years — The Massacre of 1856 — The 
Geisel Tragedy — The Whites besieged — Battle at Skookum House — Ellensburg at Present — Hume's Cannery- 
Pistol River — Chetco — Winchuck. 

New river is generally regarded as forming the dividing line between Curry and 
Coos counties. It is a small stream, some forty yards wide in the lower part of its 
course, but spreading out at its mouth to several times that breadth. The next stieam 
to the south is Floras creek, a name of doubtful etymology. This water-course drains 
quite an extensive region of rich farms, whose residents form the most important agri- 
cultural community in the northern part of the county. Denmark post office and 
store kept by N. C. Lorentzen, is the center or rallying point for the people of Floras 
creek, and although no town exists at present no doubt the material growth of the com- 
munity will soon build one up. There are more signs of enterprise and well-directed 
energy about Denmark than in any other small locality in the whole region. It is a 
striking example of the extraordinary vigor and foresight of the inhabitants of the 
place that a newspaper has already been established. This is the Curry County Recorder, 
a weekly paper, edited and published by J. H. Upton, an experienced journalist. The 
Recorder deals mainly with local affairs, and is apparently well supported. The 
publication office is in Mr. Upton's residence, one and a half miles from the post office. 

The Floras creek flats, so-called, which constitute the greater part of the agricult- 
ural land of this rich section, form a triangular tract of land, extending along the ocean 
beach for twelve miles, and having a width of about half that. The stream itself is 
small in summer, scarcely ankle deep, but wide and swift in winter. In its vicinity 
are the thriving dairies of Thrift, Long, Langlois, and others, some of whom milk a 
hundred cows, and make tons of excellent butter. The facilities for dairying in this 
vicinity are very great. Floras lake, a body of clear fresh water, only 300 yards or so 
from the ocean verge, is a peculiarity of this region and is one of the three small lakes 
of the county. It is stocked with trout. 

Sixes river enters the ocean some six miles south of Floras creek ; its course is 
nearly west from its head in the mountains where rise the south fork of the Coquille 
river and Russell and Catching creeks. Sixes is the transformed Indian word Shix. 
The stream does not flow through a great area of tillable land, but has extensive 
resources in lumber, placer and quartz mines, salmon fisheries, and stock grazing lands 
of great importance. None of these sources of wealth have yet been fully utilized or 
even examined; but the influx of population expected in the immediate future may 
remedy the neglect, About the head of Sixes river several quartz claims have been 




<■-■>. ----- -. 



CUKRY COUNTY. 477 

prospected, and along the stream some gold-bearing gravel has been washed. Here, and 
on Elk creek also, immense quantities of the finest cedar, fir, spruce, hemlock, and 
laurel (mis-called myrtle), are standing, sufficient to feed the mill saws for years. On 
the latter stream is the Elk creek mill, owned by Joseph Nay, which saws 10,000 feet 
of white cedar daily, the lumber being hauled to Port Orford, over a wagon road, and 
then loaded upon vessels and sent to San Francisco. Mr. Nay owns 1,000 acres of 
land, mostly covered with a fine growth of timber. The mill is four miles inland, and 
the logs are rafted to it by the current of Elk creek. The mill and machinery cost 
£15,000, and commenced sawing in July, 1883. Its product of white cedar brings 
usually thirty-five, twenty-five, and sixteen dollars per thousand feet, according to 
class. It costs five dollars per thousand to transport to the shipping point. 

Port Orford is situated in township 33, range 15, west, in forty-two degrees, forty- 
four minutes, north latitude, and one hundred and twenty-four degrees, thirty minutes 
longitude west of Greenwich. The name refers indifferently to the harbor and to 
the small, but important town which has grown up on the shore. The name Orford 
was bestowed on Cape Blanco, by Vancouver, whence it was transferred to this shel- 
tered haven. Sometimes the bay has been called Ewing harbor, and is so marked on 
certain maps. The haven, writes Captain Tichenor, is- a deep and capacious roadstead, 
abundantly sheltered from all winds except the southwesters, having in the northwest 
a headland 150 feet high, which is perpendicular on the side toward the anchorage. 
The bottom is reckoned first-class holding ground for anchors, and there is a minimum 
depth of from seven to ten fathoms of water in the channel. The engineers of the 
governmental coast survey have pronounced this the finest and most accessible summer 
harbor on the coast between San Francisco and Puget Sound, and a movement has 
been set on foot to construct at Port Orford a stone breakwater, which is much needed 
for complete immunity against the storms of winter. This would necessarily be a gov- 
ernment work, requiring money appropriations and official supervision. With the com- 
pletion of the work the port would undoubtedly become of vast importance, second to 
few other towns on the coast. In addition to this it has been proposed, and urged to 
some extent, to connect Port Orford by rail with some point on the Oregon and Cali- 
fornia railroad, preferably Roseburg. Two easy and practicable routes are said to exist, 
the one leading north to the Coquille river, thence up that stream to the junction of 
the south and middle fork, and then by way of Camas valley to the south Umpqua ; 
the other from the coast up Sixes river and by way of Salmon creek to the south fork. 
A pass only 1,200 feet above sea-level has been found on the latter route and will 
doubtless be utilized. The road would pass through a finely-timbered and well-watered 
country, abounding in minerals, such as coal, which is found in quantity, iron, chrome 
and copper ores, and with immense bodies of yellow pine and white cedar. The routes 
have been surveyed and pronounced practicable. 

Port Orford is the most important shipping point for lumber, the supply being- 
furnished by two of the three sawmills in Curry county, namely, the Elk creek mill 
of Joseph Nay, and the Hubbard creek mill, located a mile south of town. The lat- 
ter's capacity is 17,000 feet per clay. Its beginning was a small concern built in 1874, 
by E. J. Gould and Company. In 1876 the mill was enlarged by the Port Orford 
Cedar Company, X. C. Lorentzen, manager, and a wharf was built, 500 feet long, reach- 



478 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

ing to a rock that extends 160 feet further. The total cost of the mill, wharf, timber 
and dam was $62,000. Some ten or fifteen million feet of first-class timber yet re- 
mains on Hubbard creek, after the immense quantity cut by the mill. 

On the discovery of gold along the ocean beach, Port Orford became a shipping 
point for the miners who flocked in, and achieved a high degree of prosperity. It had 
hotels, stores, billiard parlors, and all the concomitants of a mining camp, and its mer- 
chants — of whom the firm of Tichenor and Company were the most influential — did a 
large wholesale and retail business. There were at one time, says Mr. Riley, a pio- 
neer of Ellensburg, who once lived at Port Orford, six hotels, nine stores, and a cor- 
responding number of saloons and dwellings. These were but temporary, and on the 
decay of mining they mostly went out of existence. In 1853 H. Tichenor built a 
saw mill two miles north of town and cut a great deal of lumber, but shut down after a 
few years. A serious fire occurred about twenty years since, which swept away nearly 
the whole town, since which it has never regained its former size. 

Ellensburg, the county seat and place of the most importance in the county, is 
located on the south side of the embouchure of Rogue river. When the beach mines 
were first worked that point became a center of population, and on or near Gold Beach, 
as the locality was called, there, sprung up the villages or camps known as Hogtown, 
Elizabethtown and Ellensburg, whereof the latter has outlived her rivals. Captain 
Tichenor's daughter was the original of this pretty name. There were few families 
in the early years, the miners making up the great bulk of the population ; but 
later on permanent settlers began to arrive and women and children were more fre- 
quently met with. The Waddell family is thought to have come first, followed "by 
the Geisels, Thorps, Holtons (now of Josephine county) and Rileys, the latter being 
still residents of Ellensburg. 

The pioneer merchants of Ellensburg were the two firms of Augustus and John 
Upton, and Huntley and O'Brien. They brought their goods at first from Crescent 
City, in the "Gold Beach," a small sloop which made frequent trips along the coast 
and furnished means of communication for a. considerable time. Afterwards the firm 
of Pratt and Blake was established, and owned or chartered a schooner, the Rambler, 
which traded with San Francisco. F. H. Pratt, now of Ellensburg, organized and con- 
ducted the first pack-train between Crescent City and Gold Beach. In the subsequent 
Indian troubles the natives destroyed his establishment, burning the store and carrying 
off the most of the goods. The same fate befell the remainder of the little settlement, 
and it is reckoned that forty-one white persons lost their lives near the mouth of the 
river during those perilous times. The names of twenty-six victims are given in 
another place — they who perished in the massacre of the twenty-second of February, 
1856. To these we must add the names of E. Huntley and John Clevenger, who were 
betrayed by Enos and murdered near the mouth of the Illinois river, a few days before, 
the greater calamity. The most celebrated incident in the tragedy was the murder of 
John Geisel. The Geisels, father, mother and five children dwelt about five miles 
north of the river. The Indians entered the house while the inmates were in bed and 
instantly attacked them. Mrs. Geisel, in endeavoring to defend herself, was cut with 
a knife, and her husband was stabbed to death instantly. The three boys, aged nine, 
seven, and five years, respectively, were also butchered, and the female members of the 



CURRY COUNTY. 479 

family, comprising Mrs. Geisel, her daughter Mary, aged thirteen, and an infant, were 
made prisoners and compelled to remain with the savages for eighteen days, when they 
were surrendered to the whites. Negotiations were entered into for their recovery 
when it was discovered that they were living and were captives, and after considerable 
diplomacy, they were exchanged for a squaw held by the whites, with some blankets 
and money in addition. Mrs. Geisel, now Mrs. Edson, is a resident of Ellensburg 
and her infant companion in captivity has grown to womanhood and also resides in 
that town. The eldest daughter, Mary, now Mrs. H. G. Blake, lives in Chetco. 

The whites fortified themselves on the north side of the river, opposite Sebastopol, 
as Ellensburg was then called, and all the surrounding settlers drew into the protection 
of the fort. The structure was of logs, and stood in a well selected site, a mile and a 
half from the river, and within gunshot of the ocean. Around it a ditch was dug, 
which was filled with water and crossed by a draw-bridge. It proved an efficient pro- 
tection, and when, after a few days, the natives assaulted it, they were able to make no 
impression, and soon withdrew. Shortly after, a party of fifteen white men from the 
fort were ambushed by the Indians while endeavoring to get a lot of potatoes that had 
been cached near the mouth of the river. Six of the whites were killed, the names of 
four of them being Oliver, Richardson, Schmoldt, and Bullem. Four more whites 
were soon after drowned in the breakers opposite the fort, while attempting to beach a 
boat loaded with supplies from Port Orford. When the regular troops arrived, the 
settlers mostly took up arms to clear the country of Indians, while the non-combatants, 
the women and children, went to Port Orford for safety. The savages withdrew to a 
fortification of their own, fifteen miles up the river, and on the south bank. This 
fort, called " Skookum house," was perhaps the most carefully prepared defensive 
work ever undertaken by the Indians, and probably owed its design to the notorious 
Enos, the moving spirit among the Indians, and the person to whom the sanguinary 
acts of the time were directly due. This fortress w T as taken by a combined force of 
regulars and volunteers, the former under Captains Ord and Augur, the civilians com- 
manded by E. H. Meservey and Ralph Bledsoe. Surprising the savages by the unex- 
pectedness of their attack, the volunteers drove them from "Skookum house," and the 
fleeing Indians became targets for the regulars, who were posted in the bushes on the 
river. Many were shot and drowned, and altogether the natives sustained quite a 
defeat. This action occurred a few days after Smith's fight at Big Meadows. 

On the conclusion of hostilities, all the Indians in Southern Oregon, save a few 
scattering individuals, were removed to the Coast reservation. The few who were left 
were near Pistol river, and heM out against the whites and committed various acts of 
violence. They besieged Robert Smith's cabin, on Pistol river, but were kept off by 
three miners inside. A company of miners was then formed to hunt these savages, 
and Lieutenant Eyre, of the regular army, with a detachment, came to assist. The 
Indians attacked and captured the military pack train, killed one man, Haybacher, by 
name, hamstringed the mules, and escaped. Two of them were finally captured, and 
being taken to Ellensburg, were despatched by the miners, and the other males were 
killed, it is said, by the Smith river Indians, in consideration of a price of one hun- 
dred dollars set upon the head of each. This was probably in 1858. Other accounts 
are to the effect that these Indians, instead of being killed, were taken to the reservation. 



480 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

The present aspect of Ellensburg is moderately lively and flourishing. There is 
a very good weekly newspaper, edited and published by Walter Sutton, a journalist of 
discrimination and judgment. This is the Curry County Post, which was established 
at Port Orford, in May, 1880, by J. H. Upton and son, but being purchased by the 
present proprietor, was removed to Ellensburg in July, 1880. On the following six- 
teenth of September, the first number printed at this place appeared, and since that 
time it has continued to be published regularly. The Post is an indispensable institu- 
tion in the county, and fills an important position in the public estimation. 

The Rogue river is noted for the quality and quantity of the salmon caught in 
its waters. There are two distinct runs of these fish, called the spring run and the 
fall run, the first taking place in April, May and June, the fall run occurring mainly 
in September and October. The latter run is most abundant, but the fish taken in the 
spring run are the best in quality. A. F. Myers established a fishery at Ellensburg, 
in 1857, for the purpose of taking, salting and barreling salmon. From this compar- 
atively small beginning, the business has increased until there are now ten thousand 
cases of canned salmon shipped yearly, as an average product. This business is the 
most important and lucrative in the whole county, and is conducted at a single cannery, 
which is owned by R. D. Hume. The necessary buildings are built over the water, 
resting upon piles, and contain apparatus for cleaning, cutting up and packing the fish, 
as well as for the manufacture of cans and cases. Mr. Hume has, with rare foresight, 
taken great pains to keep up the quantity of living salmon, both by abstaining from 
catching too many and also by establishing a hatchery wherein the fertilized salmon 
eggs can be brought to maturity, and an immense number of small fry let loose to 
replace those annually caught. 

Ellensburg contains a court house, situated at the lower extremity of the town ; 
a school house of excellent pretensions ; the office and drug store of Dr. Von Der Green, 
the only physician in the county ; Miss Geisel's millinery establishment, the post office, 
three hotels, cooper shop, blacksmith shop, shoe-shop, store, saloons, offices, etc. Gold 
Beach lodge, No. 70, A. F. and A. M , and Rogue River Grange, No. 190, Patrons of 
Husbandry, meet in Ellensburg. The steam saw mill has been an important factor in 
the destinies of the place. 

About 1871 Hastings and Sanders built a small grist mill four miles above Ellens- 
burg. They made the mill stones from rock which themselves quarried out, and began 
to make Hour to supply the local demand. Hastings was unfortunately drowned ; and 
the partner has since run the mill. He does not turn out sufficient flour for all the 
demand, and the remainder is brought by sea mostly from San Francisco by the 
steamer Mary D. Hume. The ruling prices of articles on the coast of Curry county f 
of course vary with circumstances as elsewhere, but may in general be said to conform 
to this list, which exhibits them for the fall of 1883. Hay, twelve dollars per ton ; 
salmon, twenty cents each ; potatoes, cabbage, wheat, oats and barley, each two cents 
per pound ; fresh pork, retail, eight to ten cents ; fresh beef, retail, twelve to fifteen 
cents ; butter, twenty-five to forty cents. Wheat, flour, horse feed and even vegeta- 
bles, are at times brought from San Francisco, while hundreds of acres of excellent 
myrtle bottom exist not far from Ellensburg, capable, if cleared and cultivated, of pro- 
ducing enormous crops of vegetables, clover, grain, etc., and supplying ten times the 



CURRY COUNTY. 481 

do maud of the small coast population. Were there cheap, speedy and regular means 
of transportation to and from San Francisco, Curry county ought to furnish that me- 
tropolis with many of the above articles, instead of receiving them from her. 

The trail southward from Ellensburg crosses Hunter's creek, a small stream, with 
a narrow valley, cultivated by a few settlers. The region all about is extremely wild 
and romantic, both ocean and mountainward. Grazing is much pursued, and upon 
the " prairies " many sheep may be seen. Between Hunter's creek and Pistol river 
the trail ascends a very high mountain, where a splendid view of the Pacific may be 
gained. Pistol river is larger than the first mentioned stream, and is fifteen miles by 
the trail from Rogue river. Upon this stream also dwell settlers who have made valu- 
able improvements. Near Whale's Head — a remarkable promontory bearing a resem- 
blance to that animal — is a considerable tract of fertile land, upon which R. Scott is 
located and has an excellent establishment, devoted mainly to grazing. Fourteen miles 
beyond is. Chetco (so called from the name of an Indian tribe) where dwells quite a 
community of farmers, graziers and dairymen, who make up a section ranking fourth 
in the county as to population. The soil is extremely fertile, and within the limited 
area of the section there are ample opportunities for a self-supporting population to 
thrive and prosper. The Chetco river or creek is crossed by two ferries — Miller's, 
nearest the mouth, and Smith's, two miles above. At the latter the stream is about 
120 yards wide and is fordable in summer. For a dozen miles or so along the stream, 
settlers possess and are clearing the rich soil, and so making pleasant homes for them- 
selves and their posterity. South of the creek a bench of level and rich soil begins, a 
mile in width, fronting on the ocean and backed by low, fern-covered hills which lie 
toward the east. Here are some very fine farms, mainly devoted to wheat raising, but 
possessing orchards and other improvements Some prominent settlers are the Cooleys, 
Blake and McVay. William Kirk keeps a store at a point a fourth of a mile south of 
the Blake ranche. The port of Chetco hardly deserves the name of harbor, being 
only a landing where the steamer Hume and schooner Ester Cobos occasionally call, to 
bring merchandise and carry away wool, hides and dairy products. The Chetco coun- 
try has often been called Egypt, since at one time it supplied nearly all of Del Norte 
county with wheat, In this region are to be found good roads — very rare in the 
remainder of the county. There are no mills, either for lumber or flour making in 
Chetco, but the wheat is hauled to Smith's river, six miles beyond the state line, and 
there ground into flour. Lumber is also purchased in Del Norte county. There are 
two small fisheries on Chetco creek but the catch is transferred to Del Norte county 
for canning and shipment. Dairying is quite an industry hereabouts, and an excellent 
article of butter is made on various ranches, particularly J. A. Cooley's " Fountain 
ranch," which is well fitted up, having a stream of running water to propel the churn, 
and also to keep the temperature • of the dairy house at the right point, 

Winchuck — an Indian word — is the name of a small river, the southernmost 
stream in Curry county, and almost upon the state line. Salmon swarm in the Win- 
chuck and J. B. Wilson has the small beginning of a fishery, where he puts up a hun- 
dred barrels each year. Upon and about the lower portion of the river there are set- 
tlers, mostly recent ones, who are carving out homes for themselves in a promising local- 
ity, though a verv isolated one. 

62 



482 SOUTHEBN OBEGON. ; 

Although the Winchuck is looked upon as the dividing line between California and 
Oregon, its mouth is half a mile north of the true boundary, which is the forty-second 
parallel. Upon the beach can be seen a stone post which marks the line accurately. 
A farm house near by stands upon the line, and its distinguished owner enjoys the 
felicity of eating in the one state and sleeping in the other. Upon the north side of 
the river, and consequently in Oregon, is a grove of redwood trees — the sequoia sein- 
pervirens — supposed to be the only living representatives of this species in the state. 









COOS COUNTY. 



CHAPTER LX. 



THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY. 

Boundaries of Coos County — The Coquille and its Tributaries — Splendid Forests— Valley of the Coquille — Her- 
mansville and its Founder— Myrtle Point — Catching Creek— Forks of the Coquille — Norway — The Coquille 
Navigable — Coquille City— The Road to Coos Bay — Parkersburg — The Salmon Cannery — Grube's Saw Mill — 
Randolph — Bandon — The Coquille Bar. 

Coos county is situated on the coast of Southern Oregon, and is bounded on the 
north and east by the county of Douglas, on the south by Curry and on the west by 
the Pacific ocean. The county is irregular in outline, and has a length from north to 
south of about fifty miles, with a maximum breadth of about thirty. Its area is ap- 
proximately 1,100 square miles, or about 700,000 acres of land. Its surface is very 
broken and diversified, containing mountains, though not of great altitude, valleys, 
streams, swift or sluggish, and finally a bay of considerable extent. Generally speak- 
ing, the contour of Coos county is basin-like, with hills completely surrounding it, and 
forming its rim, excepting on the western edge, which terminates at the sea beach. At 
this particular part of the coast of Oregon, the Coast Range mountains recede from 
the ocean, leaving a comparatively level tract of land which forms the greater portion 
of Coos county, and approaching the sea to the north and south the mountain spurs cut 
off and isolate the region almost perfectly. That part of the Coast Range lying east 
of Coos county is usually termed the Umpqua mountains ; and those to the south and 
southwest are called the Rogue river mountains. The two chains are continuous, how- 
ever, their point of union being at Camas valley, on the headwaters of the middle fork 
of the Coquille, where a low pass exists, whereby communication takes place from east 
to west. Passes exist also at other localities, but of less favorable character for ordinary 
communication. The most frequently traveled route between Coos county and the val- 
ley to the eastward is the Coos bay stage road, which ascends the north fork of the 
Coquille and crosses the range at the head of Brewster canyon and west of Looking- 
glass valley. To the north of the stage road the mountains are exceedingly rough and 
mountainous and entirely impassable. Among them several streams head, those in the 
west side flowing into Coos bay, while the eastern slope is drained by the Umpqua. A 
still larger number of streams rises among the Rogue river chain — the Coquille and its 
tributaries draining the northern and western slope, the South Umpqua the eastern, 
and the Rogue river the southern. 



484 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

Coos county is divided naturally into two topographical sections, the valleys of the 
Coquille and Coos bay. The country drained by the Coquille forms about two-thirds 
of the total area of the county, and comprises the southern part. The tributaries of 
that river are its three branches, called north, middle and south forks; Russell, Catch- 
ing, Hall, and other creeks, and many sloughs. The Coquille itself is formed by 
the confluence of its forks at the head of tide water near Myrtle Point and flows into 
the ocean sixteen miles due west of the jxnnt of junction, but forty-five miles, if the 
meanderings of the stream be counted. For all the distance it is navigable for small 
vessels, and for the lower twenty miles for craft of large size. Consequently the stream 
is of great importance to the couuty, affording a reliable and cheap means of commu- 
nication. It serves the purpose of a highway, and nearly all traffic is carried on by 
means of boats borne upon its waters. It forms the longest navigable highway in Ore- 
gon south of the Willamette. The Coquille, as well as its tributaries, flows through a 
heavily wooded country. Splendid forests of fir, cedar, myrtle, maple and other beau- 
tiful and valuable woods adorn the banks, and cover the hills and valleys as far as the 
vision can extend. The soil that supports these growths is of a rich description, being 
composed of the finely divided particles of sandstone worn from the mountains which 
compose the Coast Range, and brought down by the torrents in winter and deposited 
on the lower part of their course, where, mingled with vegetable matter, they form a 
soil of a light, porous nature, easily worked but wonderfully productive of nearly every 
known crop. These are the myrtle bottoms, so styled by the settlers because the myr- 
tle is found growing thereupon. The myrtle groves are extremely beautiful, the stately 
shafts of the trees resembling, with their spreading capitals of limbs and leaves, some 
imaginative picture of an ancient cathedral. The shade is very dense, nearly every 
ray of sunlight being interrupted by the thick crown of lance-shaped leaves interlock- 
ing from tree to tree, so that a sort of twilight always reigns. The usual height of the 
myrtle is about sixty feet and the trunk is bare of limbs for a great part of its height. 
The myrtle has great value as an ornamental wood suitable for cabinet making. - It 
grows in such vast quantities in the low lands along the coast that no demand could 
ever arise which could not be fully met. It is said that under certain conditions of 
temperature that this wood is liable to decay, but that point is not yet fully settled 
Aside from its value as fuel, this beautiful, hard, dense and finely-grained wood is not 
in extensive use or demand. The fir, of three species, yellow, red and white, is being 
converted into lumber as fast as circumstances require. Nowhere in the world does 
the fir attain a greater size than in Coos county. It forms a resource of great impor- 
tance, though by no means an inexhaustible one. The same remarks apply to the 
white cedar, with the qualifications that this tree is more in demand, as its lumber brings 
a higher price, is less abundant and likely to become extinct in comparatively few 
years. 

The valley proper of the Coquille is about four miles wide, and the greater part of 
the land included in it would be tillable if cleared of the trees. The fertility of the 
myrtle bottoms, which occur on nearly all the streams in Coos county, as well as Curry 
and the western part of Douglas, is amazing. Crops of all sorts that are suited to the 
climate flourish exceedingly, and the soil being deep and porous admits of thorough 
drainage and easy cultivation. There is, however, great difficulty in clearing these 



> 

U) 

I 
~n 

m 
r~ 
p 

o 
m 

CD 

o 




COOS COUNTY. 485 

lands, for the myrtle is extremely tenacious of life, and after the tree is felled the stum ]> 
retains its vitality for generations, and will continue to put forth rank, green shoots 
which grow rapidly and require to be trimmed off each year. It costs, say the farmers 
of the Coquille, not less than fifty dollars to clear an acre of myrtle bottom, and con- 
sequently comparatively few acres are yet denuded of their trees. It is the prevailing 
impression that for vegetables and cultivated crops of all kinds, and for clover and 
grasses generally, these lands are not exceeded in the world. This is the belief which 
thirty years of hard experience has taught, and that no one who has traveled through 
the Coquille country will deny. 

Upon the Coquille and its tributaries are Hermansville, Ott, Gravel Fort, Myrtle 
Point, Norway, Dora, Sitkum, Fairview, Coquille City, Parkersburg, Randolph and 
Bandon — all places of note, and some importance. 

Beginning with the tributaries, we learn that Hermansville takes its name from 
Dr. Hermann, of Baltimore, who led a colony of industrious and intelligent Germans to 
Coos county in 1859, and settled upon the rich bottom lands of the south fork, a few 
miles from its mouth. Here the colonists made homes for themselves and prospered 
finely by the exercise of industry, and acquired skill in their new pursuit of farming. 
The leader was a gentleman of the highest integrity and the noblest impulses. To him 
the country owes a great debt, as he drew into its borders an intelligent class of men 
nearly all of whom have proved most exemplary citizens, and some of them still live, 
venerated and respected by all. The younger generation of the colony have grown 
now to manhood and middle age and occupy - important positions in the community. 
Hermansville, the family seat of the Hermanns, is still in the possession of the family, 
and is the residence of the mother ; but Doctor Hermann has passed over to the silent 
majority, having died on the sixteenth of December, 1869. Myrtle Point, located near 
the mouth of the north fork, is a village of importance and promise. It has a good 
location at the head of tidewater, and stands upon a plateau sufficiently elevated above 
the river to secure immunity from floods, and is capitally situated for trade, and sup- 
plies the valleys of the south and middle forks with merchandize and receives in 
exchange, the products of those fertile regions. The population of the village is about 
150. It has two stores dealing in general merchandise, a drug store, post office, two 
excellent hotels, a lawyer's office, butcher and blacksmith shops, furniture shop, and 
other buildings, but no saloons. There is an excellent brass band, and a literary society. 
On the site of Myrtle Point was once an Indian village. Ephraim Catching filed 
a donation claim to it in 1853, and in 1861 a village was platted and laid out by Henry 
Myers, from whom it was named Myersville. The great freshet of 1861-2 put a period 
to the progress of the new town. In 1876, another name was bestowed — that it now 
holds — and the place was again surveyed. The name is derived from the beautiful 
myrtle groves near by. A steam grist mill was erected by C. Lehnherr, which for a 
time formed the only business of the place ; but Binger Hermann, obtaining a valuable 
part of the site, commenced building actively, and has made the town the busiest place 
in the county. Mr. Hermann has erected a fine hotel, thought to be the best in 
Southern Oregon ; an immense store 100 feet long, with a concert hall in the second 
story ; warehouses, and other buildings. The annual sales by the merchants of Myrtle 
Point amount to about $50,000, and the cost of freight from San Francisco is eight 



486 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

dollars per ton. The average value of cleared farming land near the town is forty- 
dollars per acre, and the cost of clearing is supposed to average thirty per acre. There 
is some vacant government land near by, but it is hilly and covered with timber, the 
most of which has been ruined by forest fires. The lumber men of the vicinity sell 
their logs at the mill, being at the pains of felling and peeling them, hauling them to 
the stream and floating them to the mill. Here they receive five dollars per thousand 
for first-class fir, and three dollars for second-class. Cedar commands ten and eight 
dollars for the first and second classes respectively, and ash, somewhat more valuable, 
sells in small quantities for twelve dollars per thousand feet. Binger Hermann estimates 
that there are 50,000 acres of timber standing upon the south fork, 28,000 upon the 
middle fork, and 75,000 upon the north fork. This estimate of course includes the 
lesser tributaries of these streams. The whole area is thought to contain 800,000,000 
feet of timber, the most of it of a good quality, and part of it unexcelled for any uses to 
which lumber may be put. Fir is the most abundant kind, but there are very fine 
bodies of Port Orford cedar upon the south fork. 

Catching creek empties into the South fork, a mile above Myrtle Point. It is a 
small stream, only large enough to float saw logs, for which purpose it is made available. 
It heads at White Rock, near the Curry county line ; has a course of twelve miles, 
passing through a narrow valley in which reside ten settlers with their families. These 
are mostly farmers, and do some lumbering besides. They have a school house. The 
mail route to Deumark, Curry county, passes up this creek and through Lost Prairie 
near its head, and over the high divide leading to Floras creek. All about that region 
are grazing lands in abundance — prairies with the richest grass, and streams of excel- 
lent water — a great deal of the territory unoccupied as yet. Catching creek received 
its name from one of the first settlers in the neighborhood. In the Indian troubles of 
1856 a stockade was built near the mouth of this creek, by the settlers aud some vol- 
unteers from Port Orford, who came up with Captain John Creighton, to protect the 
people living thereabouts. J. B. Dully, E. Catching, Abram Hoffman, William Myers, 
H. H. Woodward, William Rowland, and Miller were among the first settlers in 
the upper Coquille valley. Dully's claim was where Ratclift's mill now stands. 

The settlers on the middle fork with their families, are thought to number from 
350 to 400 persons. They have a post office, Enchanted Prairie by name, which is a 
considerable distance up the stream, and nearly due east from Myrtle Point. This 
place was settled first by George Barber, in 1853. There is no saw mill upon the 
stream, but two grist mills have been put up, owned by A. H. Fish and O. Reed, the 
latter's being at the mouth of the fork, not far from Myrtle Point. For a considerable 
distance above Enchanted Prairie the middle fork passes through narrow canyons, but 
near its head the traveler comes to Camas valley, on the western edge of Douglas 
county. Here the stream rises, flowing thence in a generally westerly direction. 

On the north fork a considerable amount of cultivatable land exists, mostly in 
small and isolated sections. The myrtle grows plentifully, and many clearings have 
been made, but the badness of the so-called road — the only one in that part of the 
county — prevents the pleasant valley from being settled. Sitkum is the name of a 
stage station in Brewster canyon, thirty-two miles west of Roseburg, and an equal 
distance from Coos City. Ten miles below is Dora, the residence of Mr. Scofield, who 



COOS COUNTY. 487 

is postmaster. Near by is a school house. The stage road, leaving Dora, turns 
toward the Coos bay region, but here begins another and equally bad trail which leads 
along the north fork, through a pleasant and sparsely settled country to the forks of 
the river. Two miles below Dora, and on the north fork, there is a small saw mill, 
built for supplying the demand of the neighborhood, and capable of cutting 2,000 feet of 
lumber daily. 

Norway, three miles below Myrtle Point, is usually reckoned the head of naviga- 
tion on the Coquille, although the small steamers in use upon the river are able to 
ascend to Myrtle Point, except in the lowest stages of water. Norway is a small post- 
office town, containing a population of fifty or seventy-five people, with hotels, a store, 
etc., and comfortable and commodious dwellings. Surrounding the place are quite a 
number of farms, progressively and intelligently cultivated. 

The Coquille, from Norway to the sea, is a sluggish, deep and comparatively nar- 
row stream, well adapted for navigation. Its banks are lined w T ith various sorts of veg- 
etable growth, of the most luxuriant description. The trees are mostly myrtle and 
vine-maple, with a considerable variety of other species. At places on this beautiful 
stream the spreading myrtles form almost an entire arch, overhanging the water for 
miles. Nothing can exceed the picturesqueness of the scenery of the Coquille and its 
tributaries. 

The Coquille, as has been said, is navigable. Sea-going vessels, mostly schooners, 
come in from the Pacific and load with lumber at Parkersburg or Coquille City, or 
with salmon at the cannery, and by the aid of a tug pass down stream and put to sea. 
Local traffic on the river is already very considerable, for about 2,000 people derive 
their necessary supplies of merchandise through this one artery of commerce. Two 
steamers ply upon the river, the propeller Ceres and the stern-wheeler Little Annie. 
They make alternate trips between Bandon and Norway, or Myrtle Point, touching at all 
the landings upon the river, which are many. The length of their trip is forty miles y 
and they occupy a day in making it, and return the next day. 

Coquille City is the most populous town upon the river, and is a place of no mean 
pretensions. It possesses a paper, the Coquille Herald, edited and published by Mr. 
Dean, who issued the first number but a year since, and has already built up a satisfac- 
tory circulation. The Herald deals mainly with local affairs, paying great attention to 
the resources of the Coquille region. It is an accurate source of news, painstaking 
and reliable in every respect, and considered as a local paper has not a superior in 
Oregon. The Coquille City steam saw and grist mills are the most important industries 
of the town. They were built in 1880 by Bunch, Bennett and Company, but are now 
owned by B. Hermann. The saw mill has a capacity of 15,000 feet of lumber per 
clay, and contains circular saws, edgers, and planing and matching machines. The 
shipments are made to San Francisco, and average one schooner load per month, con- 
sisting of white cedar and planed fir lumber. The number of employees is fifteen, 
and their wages range from forty to one hundred dollars per month each. About 
three million feet of lumber is annually made at the mill, for which the local prices 
are, for rough, second-class fir, nine dollars per thousand; flooring, eighteen dollars; 
rustic, sixteen dollars; first-class cedar, forty dollars. 



488 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

The town contains two hotels, several stores, a drug store, post office and the usual 
assortment of blacksmith and carpenter shops found in a place of this kind. There is 
also a brewery. Evan Cunningham was the pioneer of the place, coming in very early 
years, where very few white men had entered the country. 

Iowa slough enters the Coquille about twelve miles above the bar. Its former name 
was Dead Man's slough, given on account of the murder of two white men, Venable 
and Burton, upon its banks in 1854. Five Indians were supposed to have been con- 
cerned in this act, and three of them being captured, were taken to Randolph and 
hanged. One of the others was hanged on Battle Rock at Port Orford, as before men- 
tioned. 

Traffic between the Coquille valley and Coos bay is conducted very peculiarly. 
Travelers may pass between Coquille City and Marshfield by means of a road, difficult 
and sometimes nearly impassable ; or they may take the celebrated Beaver slough 
route, by which freight is usually brought into the Coquille region. It is a very pecul- 
iar mode of traveling and somewhat beyond ordinary powers of description. Poets 
have sung the terrors and trials incident to the Beaver slough passage, and careworn 
passengers have compared the whole thing to the horrors of the African slave ships. 
Setting out from Myrtle Point, the traveler is ordinarily compelled to walk about a 
mile and a half when, Providence permitting, he is taken into a small boat and rowed 
to the Ceres or the Little Annie, and conveyed to the mouth of Beaver slough, a few 
miles below Coquille City ; here awaits him a long, double-ended skiff, manned by two 
oarsmen, whose business it is to pole the boat up the narrow, still and tortuous, ditch- 
like slough for a few miles, when the traveler gets into a wagon and is transported sev- 
eral miles further to the far-famed isthmus railway, where, on a car drawn by a dummy 
engine, he is brought to Isthmus slough at a point where the water is navigable to the 
bay and he reaches Marshfield, finishing his journey by steamer, after having exper- 
ienced the delights of travel on foot, in skiffs, by two different steamers, in a mud- 
wagon and by train, at an expense of a dollar or two and a day's time. 

The next place of importance on the Coquille below Beaver slough is Parkersburg, 
a mill site, located on a bluff on the south bank of the river. The place derives its 
name from Captain Parker, a prominent individual who has inhabited the county for 
many years, and who, in company with M. L. Hanscom, built a saw mill at the place 
named. This mill, after producing a great deal of lumber, was burned, and a new 
one built to replace it. The present structure is a very imposing one, being situated 
at a considerable height above the water's edge, and is 120 feet long. It was finished 
in the fall of 1883 and is provided with the best of machinery, steam propelled, and 
has an immense capacity. Surrounding it are quite a number of neat cottages, the 
residences of those who are engaged in or about the mill. This is the station of the 
tug boat Katie Cook, which is used to tow vessels in and out of the river. A new 
hotel is being built at Parkersburg, and the place has had a postoffice for some time. 
Near Parkersburg is the fish canning establishment of the Coquille Packing Com- 
pany. This is an important and quite recent enterprise, begun in the spring of 1883 
by D. H. Getchell, Frank N. Getchell, E. W. Getchell, J. W. Hume, S. A. Miller and 
E. P. Hawes, who compose the association, the object being to make use of the enor- 
mous number of salmon which run in the Coquille. Perfect success crowned their 




o 








COOS COUNTY. 489 

efforts, and a business has resulted which employs a hundred men during the salmon 
season, and is of great consequence to the county. The cannery is first-class in its ap- 
pointments, being modeled after the Columbia river canning establishments, where the 
manager, D. H. Getchell, has had a large experience. The apparatus required was 
shipped from Portland, Oregon, on a steamer, which on her return voyage carried from 
the Coquille a cargo of lumber. This voyage is the only one ever made between the 
Columbia and Coquille by a steamer. A short distance above Parkersburg is Jens 
Jensen's fishery, where salmon are caught, salted and barreled for export. One or two . 
other stations of this sort exist on the Coquille. 120,000 salmon are reckoned to have 
been caught in the river in 1883. 

The firm of Grube, Pohl and Rink built a saw mill upon the north side of the 
river, a mile above Parkersburg, in 1867, which was the first mill of importance erected 
on the Coquille. Captain Tichenor purchased and shipped in 1869 the first cargo of 
lumber ever taken over the Coquille bar. Mr. Grube now owns the mill, having pur- 
chased his partners' interests. Several vessels, mostly schooners, have been built at 
the mill. The mill firm had the misfortune to lose the Cordelia, a steamer commanded 
by Captain Clemens, a resident of Coquille, which vessel was lost with several persons 
in Jauuary, 1878. The total production of the Grube mill from the beginning until 
the present time is supposed to have been ten million feet of lumber. 

The present village of Randolph stands at the foot of a rather steep bluff a few 
hundred yards north of the Coquille and two or three miles from the mouth of that 
stream. The little river steamers come to the wharves of this small city, making their 
way up a small but deep slough which furnishes sufficient water for that species of 
navigation. Randolph has a post office, a store or two, a brewery of very fair beer, 
and a small number of cosy residences, and contains perhaps 100 inhabitants, whose 
chief occupation is lumbering and salmon catching. Near town is a lumber chute 
leading from the brow of the bluff spoken of and ending at the slough, where the logs, 
launched from the steep height, come down like a flash of light, and plunge into the 
waters. The town's name is derived from a preceding town of Randolph, a celebrated 
mining camp, of which we will speak later. 

Bandon is a small village at the mouth of the river, built upon the bluff to the 
southward of the entrance. It has a very good location for commerce purposes and will 
probably keep at least even growth with the Coquille valley, whose principal port of 
entry it may be. The place was founded and named by George Bennett, who settled 
it in 1873, bringing from Bandon, in Ireland, his two sons, J. W. and G. A. Bennett, 
now editors and proprietors of the Coot Bay News, of Marshfield ; and six others, with 
the intention of forming a colony. When work began upon the jetty at the Coquille 
bar ; Bandon took a forward step in growth, and a portion of the money expended 
there went directly to build up the place. At present there are three hotels, two stores ? 
a Roman Catholic chapel, wharves, a ferry, and other improvements. Bandon is quite 
a health resort ; and in truth it would be difficult to find a locality better adapted to the 
restoration or preservation of exuberant health. The climate, as shown in the meteor- 
ological tables accompanying this work, is favorable, inasmuch as the annual variation of 
temperature is a minimum. The sea-breezes renovate the atmosphere and brace up the 
system; the vicinity abounds with beautiful and grand scenery and numerous objects of 

63 



400 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

interest; there is a chalybeate spring near by ; and finally the neighboring woods abound 
with game, as does the sea with fish. 

Like all the rivers of the northwest coast the Coquille has a bar at its mouth, 
which has been the means of almost entirely preventing vessels from entering. Of 
late the United States government has undertaken works that, although as yet incom- 
plete, have materially improved the entrance. Formerly the Coquille ran out to sea 
through a channel comparatively free from rocks, but giving insufficient depth of water ; 
at a later period the main channel became choked up and diverted to a rocky and 
tortuous course by which for several years vessels were effectually kept out. A few 
years since a survey of the bar was made by Major Bolton, of the U. S. engineers, who 
recommended that $200,000 be expended in constructing jetties upon the Eads system, 
whereby the current could be confined to a small portion of the embouchure and its 
wearing power be so increased as to deepen the channel materially. About $20,000 
was expended in accordance with this suggestion, with the most gratifying results. A 
jetty was built out for several hundred feet, by driving piles and filling interspaces 
with rocks, and the current has returned to its old channel which has been deepened 
several feet. At present there is a sufficiency of water to allow small coasting vessels 
to pass, and no doubt exists that with the expenditure of more money and the proper 
lengthening of the jetty, the largest deep water ships might enter. Formerly 
vessels were often detained for weeks, either within the bar or without, but at present 
detention is rare. Freights and insurance are lower, the saw mills, which furnish the 
most of the freight have increased their output, and beneficial effect of the government 
work are apparent in a variety of ways. 



CHAPTER LXL 



COOS BAY AND ITS VICINITY. 

Description — Character of the Land— Geographical Explorations — Discovery of the Bay — The Coos Bay Com- 
pany — The Randolph Mines — The Coal Mines. 

The region of Coos Bay lies north of that part described, and is separated from it 
by a water-shed of low hills running parallel to the Coquille river. The tract sur- 
rounds Coos bay, which receives a number of rivers, creeks and sloughs which drain 
the land of the vicinity. The bay is an extremely irregular body of water, perhaps 
fifty square miles in area, and possessing a number of arms which penetrate the land 
for a considerable distance and add materially to its area. It is of great value by 
reason of its navigability, affording easy means of communication between the various 
points. There is a sufficient depth of water, particularly in the western portions, to float 
the largest ships ; and even the narrow sloughs emptying into it are susceptible of 
being improved so as to float vessels of considerable size. 






COOS COUNTY. 491 

The character of the land is similar in most respects to that of the Coquille. A 
very large amount of marsh land is found on the various tributary sloughs and creeks, 
most of it being covered with a heavy plant growth. A great deal of this land is 
susceptible of being reclaimed, when it will be enormously productive. Myrtle bot- 
toms of the ordinary description are common upon the Coos, Millicamas and other 
streams emptying into the bay, and a great many settlements have been made by enter- 
prising tanners. There is no lack of fertile soil on which to settle, but the great diffi- 
culty of clearing these lands is almost insurmountable. If, in addition, they have to 
be dyked to keep the water from overflowing them, tho cost is much increased, and 
unlimited labor and expense are incurred. In spite of this the farming community 
are invariably in a fairly prosperous condition, obtaining satisfactory prices for their 
products, and realizing high profits. 

The world had its first knowledge of the coast of Coos county from the explora- 
tions of D'Aguilar and Cook, the former having discovered upon the coast a headland, 
which he named Blanco, because of its color, but whether the headland was Cape 
Orford or Cape Arago it is imposssible now to tell. He also discovered what he took 
to be the mouth of a large river in the latitude of Coos bay, which was doubtless the 
bay itself. This he did not enter, but was driven away by stress of weather. Later 
on came Captain Cook, who named the point of land between the Coquille and the bay 
Cape Gregory, from the fact of the discovery taking place on the day devoted to that 
saint. Cape Gregory is now best known by the name of Cape Arago. Captain Cook 
made no attempt to rediscover D'Aguilar's river, and, in fact, doubted that any such 
discovery had been made. After him came Vancouver, who likewise passed along the 
coast without remarking anything except the peculiar features of Cape Gregory. After 
them came many other navigators, but Coos bay seems never to have achieved men- 
tion — though its existence probably was known to the Hudson Bay employees at Fort 
Umpqua — until 1852, when a report concerning it was circulated in the Umpqua val- 
ley, then receiving its first settlers, and King, a venturesome individual, got up a com- 
pany to search for it. The explorers set out from Winchester and went by way of 
Scottsburg to the sea coast and then southward to the bay. They were P. B. Marple, 
Fitzhugh, Flournoy, Peyton, King and two other whites, with two Indians as guides 
or interpreters. Their expedition resulted in the discovery of the bay, but how long 
they remained or how minutely and extensively they examined the region cannot be 
told. Probably this happened pretty late in the year, for in the following May of 
1853 we hear of Marple lecturing publicly in Jacksonville on the beauties and advan- 
tages of the Coos Bay country, as it was already called, and endeavoring to organize a 
joint stock company to go there under his lead and take possession of the country. 
In this he was successful ; and an association of men calling themselves the Coos Bay 
Company, set out, with the lecturer as guide, for the promised land. It was at a time 
when, as before mentioned, a perfect fever raged for discovering and settling seaports 
available for traffic with the mines, and no difficulty was found in securing recruits 
and selling stock. Marple was to have ten thousand dollars for his services as pilot 
and for his discovery, providing that it was as represented. The object of the com- 
pany was to thoroughly explore the region, sound its waters, and locate donation claims 
and townsites upon available spots, and so gain control of the bay and its tributaries. 



492 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

These objects they carried out as well as their means would allow. These pioneers of 
Coos county were W. H. Harris, S. R. Belknap, Solomon Bowermaster, A. P. DeCuis, 
Dr. J. H. Foster, A. P. Gaskell, C. W. Johnson, M. M. Learn, F. G. Lockhart, P. 
B. Marple, J. A. J. McVay, Joseph McVay, Dr. A. B. Overbeck, Charles Pierce, 
David Rohrer, H. A. Stark, S. K. Temple, A. H. Thrift and George L. Weeks. They 
made their way to the head waters of the middle fork of the Coquille, in Camas valley, 
and followed that stream to its confluence with the main river and then to the ocean 
and then up the beach to South slough and the site of Empire City. Captain Harris 
immediately filed a claim to the latter locality as his donation, the first taken in Coos 
county. Lockhart took a claim at North Bend, and the other members of the com- 
pany, with outside parties wlio arrived subsequent to the above named, took the most 
available claims very quickly. Curtis Noble took the Coos City claim and J. C. Tol- 
man the Marshfield site. 

The first vessel known to have entered the bay was a schooner bound for the 
mouth of the Umpqua, that through mistake, found herself in the bay instead. This 
was in 1852. The first vessel to bring a cargo to the bay was the Cynosure, a sailing- 
craft, commanded by Captain Whippy, which arrived in 1853, soon after the opening 
of the Randolph mines. The mention of these famous diggings calls up a subject of 
the greatest interest and importance. Before the Coos Bay Company and its members 
had got fairly settled on their new claims, some half-breed Indians prospecting on the 
ocean beach just north of the mouth of the Coquille, found abundance of gold in the 
black sand at the mouth of Whisky run, a very small stream which makes its way 
into the ocean. They worked these placers somewhat, finding gold in very fine par- 
ticles, unevenly distributed through the mass of sand, sometimes there being hardly 
a color ; but at others it was not uncommon to get eight or ten dollars from a pan- 
ful of dirt. These men sold their claim in the summer of 1853, the purchasers 
being the Macnamara brothers, who worked it with excellent results. The total 
yield of this claim is said to have been $100,000. Joe Crowley, one of the origi- 
nal discoverers of the Randolph mines, made his fortune in them and departed, 
taking away a mule load of gold. His luck was diversified, however, for he died a 
pauper. The rumor of these rich mines having spread, innumerable miners flocked to 
them and began prospecting. The ocean beach was staked off for miles in every 
direction, and not less than a thousand men were gathered there. Besides these, an 
indefinite number were prospecting along the shore from Trinidad, in California, to the 
Umpqua river. A town sprang up at Whisky Run, and speedily became a place of 
importance, containing saloons, restaurants, stores, lodging houses, tents and cabins in 
large numbers. The place was named by Dr. Foster and Captain Harris, for the 
famed Virginian, Randolph of Roanoke. The Coos Bay Company built a trail from 
Empire City — their chief settlement and capital, as it were — to the mines. The min- 
ing fever was of great use to Coos bay and its vicinity, since it brought to the attention 
of the world at large the advantageous situation of the new port. After a few months 
of active work the mines lost prestige and speedily sank out of sight, to be replaced 
in the public mind by another sort of mining, and one that was destined to be of far 
greater consequence than mere gold seeking. 



! 



. .->-: 



5? 



t 



mt 




-a 

=o 

o 

-o 
m 
33 

—1 
-< 







O 
£3 



1 



m 



s#£i* 



Mir 



> 
z 
a 

—J 
e= 

en 
o 

TO 

:x 
m 
3D 

en 

CD 

cr 
3> 

G3 

C"3 

CD 
O 
CO 
C"J 



-:»--,^i4« J 






?i 




COOS COUNTY. 193 

The first coal discovered was on the Lockhart claim, at North Bend. The seam 
was eighteen inches in thickness, and was deemed so valuable that the owner refused 
$40,000 for it. Veins were soon after found near Empire City and at other places, 
but none of them were immediately worked. The first coal shipped to San Francisco 
was mined on the Boatman claim, near Coal Bank slough, and brought a price of forty 
dollars per ton. A previous cargo had been lost with the vessel carrying it, on the 
Coos Bay bar. In 1855 the mines of Newport and Eastport were opened and during 
the next year shipments began to take place. These were rival properties, the New- 
port being owned by Lanagan and Rogers, while the Eastport belonged to Northrup 
and Symonds, who were succeeded by the Pershbakers, who sold to J. L. Pool, the 
present proprietor. A. J. Davis, who distinguished himself as one of the town pro- 
prietors of Marshfield, acting as agent for a San Francisco firm, opened a mine near 
the mouth of Isthmus slough, in 1856, expending money lavishly to construct a rail- 
road, storehouses, wharf, etc., before the size of the vein and the quality of the coal 
were found out. The mine proved unsatisfactory in these respects and was abandoned 
after an expenditure of full seventy-five thousand dollars. The Hardy mine, opposite 
North Bend, was opened in later years at even a greater expense, and proved equally 
valueless. The Henry ville mine, opened in 1874, is a still more striking example of 
the same kind. The Southport mine on the contrary, has proved valuable and lasting, 
and is still producing coal. 

Trade centered originally at Empire City and that place had a speedy, but not 
long lived growth. The town is about six miles from the bar at the mouth of Coos 
bay. It now, after thirty years of existence and innumerable perturbations, contains 
about one hundred buildings, mostly situated upon a beach about twenty-five feet in 
elevation, but the business portion is built upon the flats, at less height. Its buildings 
are generally well constructed, and embrace three hotels, four saloons, a drug store, 
variety store, and two stores of miscellaneous articles, a dilapidated Methodist church, 
and a school house where thirty pupils receive instruction. In front of the town there 
are mud flats of considerable extent, which prevent vessels from approaching near the 
shore, and across these flats some wharves are extended. Cammann's is the longest, 
and has a railroad track for transporting goods between vessels and the town. Com- 
merce, mining and lumbering built up Empire City, and the gradual decay of the one 
and the busy rivalry of Marshfield in the others have been the partial ruin of the place. 
Luse's large steam saw mill, which cut 20,000 feet of lumber daily, has ceased its work 
forever. The neighboring coal seams, found on the Marple and Foley claims, have 
been abandoned long since. Empire City, notwithstanding her decay, still remains the 
county seat; and this fact has the most to do with sustaining her existence. Coos Bay 
being a port of entry, the United States custom house is located at Empire City. In 
1857 the Oregon legislature petitioned congress to remove the port of entry from Port 
Orford to " Kowes Bay," or else to form a new collection district of the latter, which 
in the fullness of time was done. Empire City has apparently taken a new lease of 
life in consequence of the operations and investments of the Southern Oregon Improve- 
ment company, who have purchased a great deal of i^roperty in and about the place, 
including 170 town lots. 



494 SOUTHERN OREGON. 

The promising and important town of Marshfield, the emporium of the Coos Bay 
country, and the true capital of the region, stands upon the southern shore of the bay, 
nearly east from Empire City, to which there is access by land and by water, the latter 
course being twice as long as the former, since the small passenger steamers are com- 
pelled to follow a course curved like a horse-shoe, whereof Marshfield and Empire 
occupy the two ends. As before remarked, J. C. Tolman was the first claimant of the 
town site. He built a log house upon the land, which building is now occupied by M- 
Malarkey. In order to build up a town Mr. Tolman induced Crosby and Williams to 
put up a store, which they did, but failed to continue the venture. In 1854 A. J. 
Davis became possessed of a half interest in the site, and hired to represent his interest, 
Wilkins Warwick, who was to hold the claim. Warwick entered the land in his 
own name, but subsequent to an act of congress prohibiting town sites from being held 
as donation claims, which vitiated the title to the land and was eventually a source of 
detriment to the place. H. H. Luse, purchasing Warwick's title, got it confirmed at 
great expense and trouble, and for many years kept the land (160 acres) in litigation. 
Finally, at his death the Southern Oregon Improvement Company purchased his title 
and cut the Gordian knot by having the land appraised, and sold it to the uneasy 
occupants at one-fourth discount. The name had been given the place as early as 
1854, either as descriptive of the surrounding country, which is somewhat moist, or in 
memory of Marshfield, Massachusetts, the home of Daniel Webster. Only a small 
trading post and a humble inn existed here until 1867, ten years after the time was 
surveyed into lots. The store was kept by various persons at different times, the best 
known of them being Charles Pershbaker. The little tavern was kept by " Cap." 
Hamilton. In 1867 the Marshfield saw mill was built by John Pershbaker, and ship- 
building was actively begun. The vessels launched here were the tug Escort, the 
schooners Staghound, Louisa Morrison, Ivanhoe and Annie Staujfer, and the barkentine 
Amelia. The firm of Dean, Wilcox and Merchant came into possession of the mill 
property about 1873 and continued the building of vessels, of which about a dozen 
have since been launched at the Marshfield yard. 

The town has pursued a steady growth in subsequent years, bidding successfully 
for the trade of the bay, and has attained a population of about 800. There are three 
large stores of general merchandise, two drug stores, three blacksmith shops, two furni- 
ture stoies, two variety stores, a hardware store, two butcher shops, two millinery stores, 
three boot and shoe stores, two jewelers, three doctors, a dentist and five lawyers. There 
are three hotels, a restaurant, two livery stables; also several secret societies — of whom 
the Masons have a hall of their own, two photographic establishments, eight saloons, 
a brewery, the Marshfield Academy (the most westerly educational concern of a high 
order in America), a church now being built, and two newspaper offices complete the 
list. The Coos Bay News, was established by John M. Siglin, being the first news- 
paper issued in the county. It is now conducted by the Bennetts, J. W. and G. A. 
The Coast Mail is also a weekly issue, but of comparatively recent foundation. 

The firm of E. B. Dean and company own and conduct a varied business, embrac- 
ing merchandise, the manufacture of lumber and ship building. The steam saw mill 
has a capacity of cutting 50,000 feet of lumber, daily, this being the largest in the 



COOS COUNTY. 493 

country. At the yard have been built a large number of vessels, those launched before 
the year 1879 aggregating 5,500 tons. 

Marshfield wears quite an imposing appearance as seen from the water front. The 
large mill, the bay steamboats lying at the long wharf, the sailing vessels loading- 
there, the active business portion of the town, and the pleasant residences in the back- 
ground shaded by lofty evergreens, make up a picture which is at once unique and en- 
livening. There are quite a number of settlements on or near the bay, of importance 
secondary to the two mentioned. At North Bend the large saw mill and ship yard of 
A. M. Simpson and brother are located. The senior partner of the firm is the pio- 
neer manufacturer of lumber upon Coos bay, and laid here the foundation of his wealth 
and influence. Up to the year 1878 twenty-two vessels have been built at the yard 
with a total tonnage of nearly 10,000. One of these, the ship Western Shore, was the 
largest craft ever launched on the Pacific ocean. This yard is the most important in 
the state. 

Coaledo is located at the head of boat navigation on Beaver slough, five meander- 
ing miles from the Coquille. The town, as its name may imply, took its rise from 
coal mines, for William Utter opened the mine which bears his name, situated a mile 
away, and directly the village of Coaledo became a reality. A great deal of money 
was expended in the search for coal, and a railway was built for its transportation ; but 
the jDrospector failed and Coaledo lost the greater part of its population. It is now 
nine years since work ceased, and time and fire have made many ravages in the village. 
It now has a hotel, a saloon and a few residences. A mile and a half away are the 
ruins of a saw mill built in 1874 by Mr. Dunham. Some logging is done on the isth- 
mus, as the locality is called, and the lumber is transported to the bay, being taken 
on the isthmus railway, previously mentioned, to deep water on Isthmus slough, a 
branch of Coos bay. The northern terminus of this miniature railroad is Utter City, 
named for the indefatigable coal prospector. Across Isthmus slough from the last 
mentioned locality are the works of a very extensively but unsuccessfully prospected 
coal mine, which, like Utter's, broke the fortune of its owner. Further down the 
slough is Coos City, a place of only prospective importance, and the terminus of the 
stage road leading to Roseburg. The Aaronville saw mill is located a short distance 
below Coos City and not far from Marshfield. 

Snmner stands at the head of Catching slough, a quiet and diminutive hamlet of 
no distinguishing peculiarities. North of the slough is the inhabited portion of Coos 
river valley, a wealthy and important section. The mouth of that river is three miles 
northeast of Marshfield. The stream is noted for its lumbering, which has been car- 
ried on for years, until the low lands have been denuded of their trees, and falling into 
the hands of industrious farmers have been cleared of stumps and brush and converted 
into fields of the smoothest description. A great deal of the rich bottom land has been 
dyked to prevent overflow, and its value is much enhanced by the treatment. A part 
of the valley is highly cultivated, and many valuable farm products are raised, includ- 
ing vegetables and fruit, for which an abundant market is found at the various settle- 
ments around the bay. 



CHAPTER LXIL 

RESOURCES AND BUSINESS. 

Derivation of the Name — Incorporation — Coos Bay Bar— Resources — Forests— Statistics — Outlets for Business — 
The Southern Oregon Improvement Company. 

The word Coos is judged to be an Indian name, of doubtful signification, which 
being heard by travelers in the wilds to the west of the Coast Range, was conferred 
either upon Coos river or bay, and afterward, on the formation of the county, was 
given to it. The first printed matter which relates to the word, gives it as Cowes' 
river ; and the name Cowan's river was in use for the same stream. Some have thought 
that the word was an eastern importation, coming from Coos county, New Hampshire. 
Until of late years, the spelling of the word was not fixed, and Coose was, perhaps, 
its most common form. Coos is also regarded as the Indian imitation of coast, which 
the natives may have attempted to speak. In this connection we may remark that 
the derivation of the name Coquille, although much has been written and said con- 
cerning it, admits of no doubt whatever : it is a French word meaning shell or husk — 
a reasonable enough origin considering, first, that the French-speaking trappers 
undoubtedly penetrated to the Coquille valley; and, second, that shell-fish of various 
sorts exist in the ocean near the river's mouth. It may be worthy of remark that the 
Indian name of the Coquille river was Nes-sa-til-cut. 

The act incorporating Coos county became a law on the twenty-second of Decem- 
ber, 1853. The boundaries of the new county comprised "all that part of Umpqua and 
Jackson counties, with the following boundaries, to-wit : Beginning at a point on the 
ocean eight miles south of the Umpqua river; thence southeast to the dividing ridge 
between the waters of the Umpqua and Coos and Coquille rivers ; thence along the 
summit of the divide, to the southwest corner of Douglas county ; thence south to the 
source of the south fork of the Coquille ; thence south to the forty-second parallel ; 
thence west to the Pacific ocean ; thence north to the place of beginning." Rather 
more than half of this area was erected into a separate county three years later, under 
the name of Curry. 

The bar at the mouth of Coos Bay, like that of the Coquille, has always been a 
serious detriment to navigation, inasmuch as the depth of water is naturally only suffi- 
cient to admit the smaller class of vessels, such as schooners, coasting steamers, and 
the like, most of which draw less than ten feet. But the general governmentappropriated 
large sums for permanent improvement of the bar, and by extending a jetty into the 
channel near Rocky Point, the course of the current has been changed, with the most 
beneficial effects. At present there is a minimum depth of eighteen feet, which is a 
vast improvement over its former condition. 




o 
a 

CO 

a 




V 




COOS COUNTY. 497 

A large number of casualties, many of them very severe, have occurred at this 
entrance. The Cohansa, Jackson, Cyclops, JVoyo, New World, Fearless (tug), D. M. 
Hall, Ida Rogers, Gussie Telfair, Charles Devens, Energy, and other vessels, have been 
wrecked at various times, and several persons and much property lost. The wreck of 
the schooner Quadratus cost the lives of Mrs. McDonald and her child, and Mr. 
Simpson, a member of the lumbering firm of A. M. Simpson & Company. When, in 
1852, the brig General Lincoln, with a detachment of soldiers from Vancouver, had 
nearly reached Cape Arago, on her way to Port Orford, she sprung a leak and was 
beached a mile from the Coos Bay bar, and the troops completed the remainder of their 
journey on foot. In the early history of the bay there is a recollection of a boat's 
crew of } r oung men being drowned on the bar while endeavoring to pilot an incoming 
vessel, said to have been the Cynosure. Dewey, Brooks, Starr, Winters and two others, 
were the unfortunates. With such a series of fatal accidents, many of which have not 
been mentioned, it is no wonder that Coos Bay bar is, or rather has been regarded as 
dangerous. The late improvements have materially decreased the danger at this date, 
and there is every prospect that the harbor, otherwise an excellent one, will become 
eminently safe of entrance and exit. 

The Coos Bay region and Coos county in general have been justly regarded as 
possessing unlimited wealth and resources. It is questionable if nature ever concen- 
trated upon so small a section so many and such various sources of material prosperity. 
The county, as we have seen, is circumscribed and hemmed in by the Coast Range, 
which nearly cuts off communication from the east. The area of farming land forms 
but a small proportion of the total surface, and even this small area is encumbered 
with woods of the densest description, and therefore the lands are very difficult to clear. 
But these objections are of small consequence when weighed against the corresponding 
advantages. The fertility of the soil, the abundance of its productions, the extent and 
value of the forests, the aids to communication presented by the Coquille river and 
Coos Bay, the apparently exhaustless beds of coal, and innumerable other resources 
impossible here to enumerate, outweigh the present difficulties of travel, the super- 
abundant moisture of the climate and the isolation of the county, by a thousand fold. 
To dilate upon the manifold resources would require a greater space than we 
have at command ; and even to barely mention the various products and manufactures 
which either form articles of trade or soon will do so, would be a work of considerable 
magnitude. The two industries, the salmon canning trade and the manufacture of 
lumber, only have reached a condition where it is possible to judge adequately of their 
future. There seems no sufficient reason why the former should not always continue, 
with proper management, to be at least as productive as it now is, and with reference 
to the lumber business, mathematical demonstrations are competent to show how long 
the lumber supply will continue, and at what date it may be exhausted and that now 
most important industry brought to an end. Minor occupations, such as procuring 
match-wood, staves, ship knees, masts and spars, and other articles of the sort, will 
necessarily be of shorter continuance. At the rate at which the myrtle bottoms are 
being denuded by their trees in order to clear the land, that timber will, in the not dis- 
tant future, become a rarity. The forests around the bay, and throughout the county 
in general, are composed mainly of fir, cedar, myrtle, hemlock, chittim and many less 



498 SOUTHERN OREGON.] 

important species. The fir predominates largely, and about Coos Bay is found perhaps 
the finest timber of the sort that exists in the world. The trees of a single acre will 
often yield 200,000 feet of excellent lumber, of the sort called in California Oregon 
pine, but what is really fir. There is a considerable quantity of cedar in all parts of 
the county, but around the bay it is mostly of a different species from the Port Orford 
variety, which exists there but sparsely, though abundant enough in the southern por- 
tion of the county. Thousands of acres of myrtle and maple of excellent quality 
stand upon the low lands about the bay and form a small article of present export, 
being shipped in the log. The total area of timber on the bay and the streams tribu- 
tary to it is judged to be 100,000 acres, from which for nearly thirty years vast sup- 
plies have been drawn, but still greater ones remain. 

In 1878 the business men of Coos Bay published some very valuable statistics 
relating to the productions of that vicinity, whose re-publication will serve to throw 
light on the resources of the section and the comparative extent to which they have 
been utilized. From them it is ascertained that the total amount of coal and lumber 
exported during the years 1871-1878, and including but two-thirds of the latter year, 
was $2,924,000 ; the entire exports amounting to $167,000. Ship building was repre- 
sented for the same time by the construction of forty vessels, aggregating 16,350 tons 
burden. Of these, twenty were built at North Bend, total tonnage 9,955; thirteen at 
Marshfield, tonnage 5,550; six at Empire City, tonnage 795; and one at Coos river, 
tonnage fifty. The arrivals and departures of vessels aggregated 1,388, or at the aver- 
age rate of 180 per year, and their total carrying capacity was 565,550 tons. The 
report referred to states further : " The quantity of coal that is conveniently accessible 
from the navigable waters of Coos Bay, is almost incalculable. Within an area of ten 
miles of the bay there is not less than 75,000 acres of good coal land, which will pro- 
duce, from the strata generally worked, 450 million tons of coal. This is an estimate 
of the production of only one seam, while in some parts of this coal field there are 
known to be as many as six workable veins. The area of lands known to contain coal, 
but not fully prospected, lying in the vicinity of the bay, may be estimated at 250,000 
acres, and at no great distance east, a vein of eleven feet in thickness is reported, said 
by persons who have tested it to be of a superior quality, suitable for the manufacture 
of gas, and for use in the foundry or forge. With such improvement of our harbor as 
is now contemplated, the coal of Coos Bay can successfully compete with any other 
part of the world. There are five coal mines already opened on the bay, of a total 
capacity of about 1,800 tons daily. Some of these mines are now suspended on account 
of the fact that the small class of vessels that carry from Coos t Bay cannot compete in 
the price of freights with the large vessels in which the Puget Sound and foreign coal 
is carried, but are ready to resume work whenever the market improves, or when the 
harbor is so improved as to accommodate a larger class of vessels. There are other 
articles of export besides coal and lumber which are exported regularly from Coos Bay, 
aggregating many thousand dollars in value. Among these are included lath, broom- 
handles, pickets, ship-knees, match-wood, staves, hides and fruit. In the production 
of such fruits as do not require very warm weather to mature them, our climate is 
unequaled. Though our surplus fruit crop has, in former years, been mainly shipped 
while fresh, the introduction of evaporators is doing away with the shipment of fresh 



COOS COUNTY. 499 

fruits, and establishing a lucrative business in the export of the dried product of these 
factories." 

At present the Bay is the scene of renewed activity. The ordinary traffic upon 
this body of water is of no small consequence, and five steamers, the Myrtle, Comet, 
Wasp, Bertha and Lulu, make regular and frequent trips between the various acces- 
sible inhabited localities, transporting passengers and merchandize, and towing rafts of 
logs to the various mills. The outlet for the commerce of the bay is seaward to San 
Francisco. Communication with the interior takes place by the Roseburg stage route, 
a considerable amount of travel passing that way. By means of the route along the 
ocean beach north of the bay, travelers find their way to Gardiner, at the mouth of the 
Umpqua, and thence by steamer to Scottsburg, and finally by stage to Drain, on the 
Oregon and California railroad. From Bandon, on the Coquille, a wagon road pro-- 
ceeds southward along the beach into Curry county. By these means communication 
is kept up with the outside world, but it is almost unnecessary to say that freight, 
except to a very limited extent, does not take these routes. All articles of merchandize 
except of home manufacture, are brought from San Francisco, which has a monopoly 
of the trade of the whole region lying west of the Coast Range. 

The most important innovation which has taken place in Coos county since its 
settlement, by Marple, Harris and their associates, is the inauguration of the Southern 
Improvement Company's works. In 1883 and 1884 this association of capitalists, 
represented by Captain Besse, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, as president, purchased 
a large amount of property in Coos county, consisting of 6,680 acres of land lying- 
near the bay, the AVarwick-Luse claim to the site of Marshfield, and certain property in 
Empire City, including a large amount of land fronting on the bay, and the saw mill. 
The grant of land made to the incorporators of the Coos Bay Wagon Road, so-called, 
was also purchased. These investments have been made with the ultimate intention of 
building a railroad from the bay to Roseburg. The enter prise. meets with the emphatic 
approval of the people of Coos, Douglas and Curry counties, who will mainly be ben- 
efited by it, and work is expected to begin soon. The road is to connect the terminus 
on the bay with Coquille City, the middle fork of the Coquille, Camas valley, 
Looking-glass valley and Roseburg. Details of its construction, length, probable cost, 
etc., are not yet known. 







CD 

> 

3= 



> 

Z 

a 

CO 



5= 

a 



CO 



-a 
en 

a 



33 

a 



a 

50 

H 

CD 
m 

Z 

CT3 



a 




APPENDIX. 



BIOGRAPHICAL BREVITIES. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



Dr. G. H. Aiken : was born in the town of Ipswick, N. 
H., January 6, 1845 ; is one of the leading physicians of 
Jacksonville ; here he arrived in 1871 ; in 1879 he married 
Miss Ida Martin of this county. Their only child, True, 
was born March 15, 1882. 

Joseph Alnutt: was born in Clay county, Missouri, 1833 ; 
he moved to California in 1853 and to Jackson county in 
1874; Mr. Alnutt follows the occupation of salesman and is 
thus engaged in Ashland, where he resides with his family : 
in October, 1882, he was married to Nattie Mitchell. Chil- 
dren, Wm. C. and Alva J. 

E. K. Anderson : lives near Phoenix; is a farmer and miner: 
was born in Monroe county, Indiana; came to California in 
1849; and to this state and county in 1852; was married 
January 9, 1856, to Elizabeth N. Myer. Children, Laura V., 
Mary H., George N., Lena, Anna Bell, Dora E. and Sarah E. 

Frederick Barxeberg: lives three miles north of Phoe- 
nix ; is a farmer ; was born at Hesse Cassel, Germany, 1836 ; 
came to America in 1838 and to this county in 1854 ; he was 
married January I, i860, to Electa Norton, a native of 
Iowa. Children, Laura A., Samuel P., Daniel H., Ida J., 
Mary and John. 

Herman V. Batcheller : resides in Ashland and is a 
saddler by trade ; he was born in Madison county, X. V., 

1835, an d was married in 1864 to Mary A. Fuller, who died 
soon after their marriage : Mr. Batcheller is a pioneer of 1854. 

Geo. H. Bavley : is a native of London; came to Amer- 
ica in 1841 at the age of nine years; he resides six miles east 
of Ashland and is engaged in farming and stock growing; Mr. 
Bavley is a pioneer of 1854: came to county in 1871; he was 
married in 1862 to Julian Johnston. Children, Hattie and 
Henry. 

Joshua Beaumon 1 : is a resident of Ashland and a cloth 
finisher by trade; he is a native of Yorkshire, England; in 
1855 ne went to California and came to this state in 1857. 

Merritt Bellinger: came to Oregon in 1830; he is a 
native of Pennsylvania; born February, 1833; is one of the 
earliest pioneers of this county, having first arrived in Ore- 
gon in 1850 and in this county in 1832, finaily settling where 
he now lives, two miles east of Jacksonville; in 1861 married 
Caroline Ritter. Children, Lucinda, Rachel R., Emma and 
Eva, twins, John and Francis. 

\\ elborn Beeson Esq.: whose residence is on Wagner 
creek near Talent, was born in Lasalle county, III., July 23, 

1836, is only son of John and AnnWelborn Bteson of Lincoln- 
shire, England. At the age of 17 YVelborn came to this state 
and county in 1803. In 1S66 he was married to Mary C. 
Brophy. Children, Ira E., Welborn J., Jessie E., John D., 
Fannie E. and Annie M. John Beeson, father of our subject 
is also a native of Lincolnshire, England. Was a man of some 
literary ability and somewhat radical in his views. 

Dan. L. Benjamin: lives at Grant's Pass; is dealer in 
cigars and tobacco; is also a barber; was born in Stevens 
county, Illinois, 1854; came to state 187 1 and to county 
1884; married Joana Brown September 26, 1875. 

James G. Birdsev: is one among the first births of Jack- 
son county, being born April 25, 1854; is a blacksmith by 
trade and carries on an extensive business in Jacksonville, 
where he resides; November 15, 1882, married Miss Katie 
Kuch. Child, Geo. R., born October 23, 1883. 



Wallace G. Bishop: resides two miles north of Phoenix; 
is a farmer; was born at Antwerp, N. V., July 26, 1830; 
moved to Oregon in 1854; in September, 1859 was married 
to Miss Nancy Scott, a native of Jefferson county, Iowa. 
Children, Leonora, Oman N., Ada J., Ida May, Alexander 
and Etta. 

George Black: lives on Poor Man's creek; is a native of 
county Down, Ireland; came to Oregon in 1851 and to Jack- 
son county in 1852; is one of the pioneer miners of this coun- 
try, which calling he still pursues. 

R. L. Blackwood: was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1854; resides nine miles east of Ashland, where he 
cultivates his farm and raises stock; in 1877 he came to Cali- 
fornia and in 1879 moved to this county; was married August 

13, 1881, to Lillie D. Caldwell. Child, Jesse M., born Sep- 
tember 17, 1882. 

Henry Blecher: is a pioneer of Southern Oregon, hav- 
ing opened one of the finest butcher shops in Jacksonville in 
1852; is a native of Siegen, West Phalen, Prussia, and a gen- 
tleman now nearly retired from active life, living on his farm 
on Poor Man's creek. 

D. P. Brittain: resides on Wagner creek; post-office ad- 
dress, Talent; is a farmer by occupation; was born June 25, 
1832, in Putnam county, Indiana; in October, 1853, he emi- 
grated to Oregon, where he was married April 28, 1859, to 
Miss M. L. Garrison. Children, Louisa E., Ora A. and IdaB. 

J. J. Brown: was born in Douglas county in 1854; is now 
a resident of Grant's Pass; is a farmer by occupation. Child, 
Robert E., born April 20, 1875. 

Henry" R. Brown: one of the earliest pioneers of South- 
ern Oregon; is a farmer and stock grower; was born in York- 
shire, England, in 1829; came to this county in 1852, where 
he was married in i860 to Martha Blamsley. Children, Jen- 
nie C, Mary M., Emogene, H. Lee, Olive and George B; 
Lee and Olive are now deceased. Mr. Brown has long been 
a resident of Butte creek and was the founder of Browns- 
borcugh. 

Chas. W. BrobacK: has heretofore been farming and 
stock raising; he is now one of the proprietors of Medford, a 
new town springing up on the O. & C. R. R., a few miles 
north of Phoenix; is a Yirginian by birth, being born July 

14, 1835; came to California in 1852 and to Oregon in 1864; 
was married December 25, 1859, to Francis A. Haigh. Chil- 
dren, Fernando W., Walter, Charles, Clarence. Ettie and 
Allie. 

E. C. Brooks: lives in Jacksonville; i= a jeweler and 
dealer in watches, clocks, etc. ; was born in Hancock, Hills- 
bourough county, N. H. ; came to state and county in 1864; 
was married in 1849 to Miss Hannah Porter, since deceased; 
was again married in 1882 to Mrs. A. Hauck. Children, 
Annie (deceased), Lizzie, Charles (deceased), Susie and Girtie. 

Wm. II. Brunk: resides in Phoenix; is a clerk; was born 
near Louisville, Ky., November 13, 1848; came to California 
in 1S49, and to Oregon in 185 1; to this count) - in 1S83. 

James D. Buckley': lives on Applegate creek; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in 1854; was married June 13, 
1871, to Margaret Riely. Children, Rosa A., John D., 
James, Francis, Kate M. and David. Mr. Buckley is a native 
of county Cork, Ireland. 

I. W. Burriss: resides in Ashland; is a saloon keeper; was 



502 



APPENDIX. 



born in Monroe county, Mo., March 30, 1839; came Lo Ore- 
gon in 1879, in which year, October 29th, he was married to 
Miss F. Erb. 

Given S. Butler: is a merchant in Ashland; was born 
near Jacksonville, Oregon, January 19, 1854; was married 
November 2, 1879, to Miss Alice Adeline Barron, daughter ol 
H. F. Barron, Esq., of this county. 

Wm. Bybee: one of the largest land owners in Southern 
Oregon; resides near Jacksonville; was born in Clark county, 
Ky., 1830; came to Oregon in 1853 and to this county in 
1854; was married in November, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth A. 
Walker. Children, Ryland (deceased), James W., Florence 
(deceased), Liilie M. (deceased) Effie, Jefferson, (deceased), 
Frank E., Alexander M., (deceased), Minnie L, Robert L., 
Minerva M. (deceased). 

Robert J. Cameron: lives at Uniontown; is a farmer; 
was born in Madison county, N. Y., 1831; came to state and 
county in 1852; was married April 7, 1863, to Esther Le Fever; 
children, Franklin, Helena, Clara, Anna, Bernice and 
Warren L. 

Theodoric Cameron : an early pioneer of this county 
arrived in 1852, he has since been engaged in the mercantile 
and mining business ;'is a native of Madison county, N. Y., 
and now P. M., at Uniontown, on Applegate creek, where he 
keeps a general merchandise store. 

John Cardwell: died in Sam's Valley; was a farmer, born 
in Trealds, Lancashire, Eng. ; came to state and county i860; 
married Jan., 1856 to Ellen Rouark; children, Annie Catherine 
(deceased) Ellen, John A., Francis H. Martha (deceased) Jane 
A., Martha, Edward R., Lawrence R., David S., Eva L. 

Major A. Carter: lives in Ashland; is a painter and paper 
hanger; was born in Watertown, Wisconsin; came to state and 
county, 1 87 1; married June 29, 1883, to Mary R. Givan; they 
have one child, Leman Claude. 

J. A. Carter: lives in Jacksonville; is a painter; was born 
in Watertown, Jefferson county, Wisconsin; came to state 
and county in 1864; was married Nov. 27, 1877, to Martha 
J. Helman; one child, Bradford. 

G. W. Catching: lives in Grants Pass; is a carpenter; was 
born in Douglas county, Or , 1855, came to this county 1883; 
married Oct., 23, 1879, t0 Lou Webber; one child, Grace, 
born Jan. 11, 1881. 

Milo Caton: lives in Jacksonville; came to this state in 
1852, and to this county in 1853; was married November 17, 
1847, to Sybil A. Freeman. Children. Edwin B., Jennie O., 
Emma E., Robert M. and Mary Bell. Mr. Catton participated 
in the Indian wars of 1853-6, and the late civil war. 

Dr. J. H. Chitwood : lives in Ashland ; is a physician and 
surgeon; was born in Jefferson county, Ind. ; came to this state 
1853 and to county 187 1 ; married May 28, 1848, to Sarah J. 
Gask ill ; children, Ella J., Olive Irene, Hampton T., Katie 
B., Charles G. 

Wm. Chambers : lives at Central Point; is a farmer ; was 
born Scotland county, Mo., came to state and county 1852; 
married Dec. 18, 1862 to Mary A. Wilson; children, John W., 
Ida M., Florence L., Aaron (deceased), Mary L., Wm. H., 
Eveline R., Waity A., and Minnie M. 

Dr. J. A. Chastain: lives in Phcenix; is a physician; was 
born in Meggs county, East Tenn., April, 1834; came to slate 
in 1875; was married March I, 1866. to Mary J. King; children, 
Wm. I., Charles, George L., Cora, Price, Adah, Ann E., 
Etta, Claudius and Sarah J. 

Daniel Chapman: lives in Ashland; is a farmer and stock 
grower; was born in England; came to America in 1832; to 
state and county in 1853; was married March 9, 1865, to 
Sarah A. Neil; children, Alvin B., Sarah L., Minnie E., 
Daniel T., Cora A., Elsie V., Homer R., Virgil H., and Guy. 
Geo. W. Cooksey: lives near Central Point; is a farmer 
and stock grower; born in Clinton county, Ky. ; came to state 
1853 and to county 1858; married Sep., 21 1869, to Mrs. 
Martha M. Roe; children, Marcellus, John L., and Rosie, 
George, only child of Mr. Cooksey, born May 21, 1872, died 
Nov., 30, 1883. 

Samuel Colver: lives at Phoenix; is a farmer and stock 
grower; was born in Union county, Ohio, Sep., 10, 1815; 
came to state in 1850, to county in 1851; married Nov. 1845 to 
Huldah Callender, born in Madison county, Ohio, 1823; 
children, Luellyn and Isabell. 

Louie Colver: was accidentally shot in Feb. 1884, at 
Phoenix, his home; was a farmer; was born in Union county, 
Ohio, March 28, 1847; came to state in 1850, to county in 1852; 



married Dec, 31, 1875 to Miss Minnie Dollarhide; children, 
Lita and Loyd. 

M. Colwell: lives in Jacksonville; is proprietor of a 
livery stable; was born in Edrigole, county Caven, Ireland; 
came to state and county in 1 86 1;- was married March 2, 1867 
to Mary Coicoran, who died July 23, 1883. 

Robert A. Cook: lives on Foot's creek; is a miner and 
farmer; P.O. address Draper; was born in Blunt county, Tenn., 
1833; came to state 1853, to county 1859; married Feb., 20, 
1853 to Almira Wooldridge; children, Sarah E. (dec), John 
A.; Wm. A., Thos. J., Robert L., and Mary E. 

Nicholas Cooke: lives at Willow Springs; is a merchant; 
was born in county Limerick, Ireland; came to state and county 
in 1853; was married Sep., 16, 1876, to Ann McNamara, born 
in Philadelphia. 

J. A. Crain: lives near Medford; is a farmer and stock 
grower, was born in Warren county, Ohio; came to state 185 1, 
to county in 1852, was married in 1861 to Susannah Wright; 
one child, Elrnira May. 

David Cronemiller: lives in Jacksonville; is a blacksmith; 
was born in Centre county, Penn.;came to state and county 
in 1862: married Nov., 10, 1861, to Annie Anderson; children, 
James, Kate, Mary and Carrie. 

Mrs. Rebecca H. Crump: lives on Poor Man's creek; is a 
farmer; P. O. address Jacksonville; was born in Monmouth 
county, N. J. ; came to state 1864, to county 1867; married 
Jan., 8, 1852; children, Wm. E., Thomas A., JohnH., Elmina 
V., Firman S., Josiah F. , Clara A., Charles J,, Perry E., 
Olive V., Ethel I. and Harry L. 

Thomas Curry: lives in Sam's Valley; is a farmer; was 
born near Louisville, Ky. ; came to stale 1853; to county 1854; 
was married Oct., 1863 to Mary E. Sutton; children, Walter 
F. (dec), John W., Elfie L. (dec), and Thomas F. (dec) 

A. J. Daley: lives at Eagle Point; is a miller; was born in 
Erie county, Ohio; came to Oregon 1864, and to county 1871; 
married Rachel Peacock July 1, 1855. Children, Rosetta, 
George W., Mary and Sarah (twins, and deceased), JohnH. 
and Francis C. 

W. C. Daley: lives in Ashland; is an architect and builder; 
was born in Erie county, Ohio; came to state 1864, and to 
county in 1869; was married in 1868, to Levinnia Hamilton; 
Children, George W., Leora E. and Irvin. 

John Daley: formerly a resident of Ashland and Eagle 
Point, now deceased, was born in Onondago county, N. Y.; 
came to state 1864, to county in 1867; was married to Lavona 
Carter in 1832; was a millwright and miller. Children, Ado- 
niram J., Willard J., William C. and Edwin J. 

Jeptha Davison: lives southwest of Phoenix : is a lumber- 
man; was born in Perry county, Ky., in 1835; came to State 
and county in 1859; married Miss Lucinda Sleppy in 1864. 

Andrew Davison: lives near Jacksonville; is a farmer; 
born Fountain county, Indiana, 1832; came to Oregon 1852; 
married Mary A. Wright, December 25, 1855. Children, 
Evaline, Amelia, Mary L., William E., Annie A. and Fred- 
erick E. 

Robert H. Dean: lives near Jacksonville; is a farmer; was 
born in Jackson county November 10, 1855; was married to 
Miss Lydia Tuffs September 11, 1878; Children, James N. 
and Robert A. 

Nathaniel C. Dean, died near Jacksonville, June 4, 
1876; was a farmer; was born at Whitesborough, N. Y., 
came to State and county 1851; married Annie Huston, Nov. 
15, 1852. Children, Rebecca (deceased), Robert H., Brad- 
ford W., William (deceased), Abigail S., Ralph F., Alice M. 
(now deceased), Clara and Annie H. (deceased). 

Henry P Deskins: lives near Fort Lane;' is a farmer; 
post-office address is Willow Springs: was born in Taswell 
county, Virginia; came to state and county in 1858; was mar- 
ried March, 1857, to Mary Hill. 

Ebenezer Dimick: lives near Grant's Pass; is a farmer 
and stock raiser; born in Morgan county, Ohio, 1836; came 
to State 1852, and in county 1859; was married i860 to Sarah 
J. Croxton. Children, Edward D. , Joseph W. , Frank (deceased) 
"Hannah, Harry and Ina. 

H. Clay Dollarhide: lives at Toll House foot of Sisk- 
iyou Mts., which place he keeps; postoffice, Barron; was 
bom July 16, 1844; came to Cal., 1861, to this county in 1869; 
married Julia A. Fendes in i87o. and May E. Shidlerin 1873. 
Children, Julia A., Florence M., Minnie S., Naney D., Myrtle 
E. and H. Clay Jr. 
John W. Dollarhide: lives south of Ashland; is pro- 



APPENDIX. 



503 



prietor of a saw mill; was born in Jasper county, Indiana, 
November 13, 1S46; came to state ami county in 1S69; was 
married March 24, iSji:', to Sarah J. Campbell. Children, 
Elizabeth (deceased), Wesley, Jesse, Hattie B., Lena S., 
Harry B., John, Claude and Ole B. 

Jesse DollarhidE: lives in Ashland; is a farmer and 
stock raiser; was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1815 ; 
came to state and county in 1S69; was married 1836 to Miss 
Nancy Murphy. Children, Amanda, Lavina, H. Clay, John 
W., Mary N., Lucy, Jemima, Priscilla, Matilda and L. Dudly. 

Patrick Donegan: lives in Jacksonville; is a blacksmith; 
was born in County Louth, Ireland; came to state and county 
in 1S54; was married first to Margaret Lynch (deceased); sub- 
sequently to Mary Fleming. Children, Margaret, John (de- 
ceased), Hugh, Elizabeth, James and Mary (twins), Patrick 
(deceased), and Annie. Second wife's children, Kate (de- 
ceased), Fannie, Patrick and Josephine. 

M. H. Drake: lives in Ashland; is a merchant and stock 
grower; was born in Steuben county, New York; came to 
state and county in i860; was married in 185S, to Miss Mar- 
tha Preater. Children, Ida (deceased), FredM., Belle, May, 
and Ella. 

Patrick Dunn: lives east of Ashland; is a farmer; address 
is Ashland; was born in Wexford county, Ind., March 24, 
1S24: came to Oregon and this county in 1851; was married 
in 1854 to Mary M. Hill. Children, Elizabeth J., Amy L., 
Ottilia, George W., and Mary E. 

Eber Emery: lives at Eagle Point; is a merchant;, was 
born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1S19; was 
married November 9, 1841, to Sophia Hoover; they came to 
state and county in 1852. 

H. S. Emery: lives in Ashland: is a mechanic and builder; 
is a native of Ohio; came to this place in 1853; married Miss 
A. Colvig, March I, 1873. Children, Nina B., Kattie P., 
Harry C. and Melvin S. 

Mrs. E. R. Erb: lives near Ashland; is a farmer; was 
born in Virginia; came to state in 1S64, to county in 1867; 
maiden name was Elizabeth R. Sively. Children, Melissa, 
Elizabeth A., Margaret, PhcebeJ., William W. and Frosine. 

J. S. Ewbanks: lives in Ashland, is a blacksmith; was 
born in Gallatin county, Illinois; came to California, in i860; 
to Oregon 1874; was married to Miss Hannah Sloan, Decem- 
ber 30, 185 1. Children, Hortense, Pauline, Rosamond. John 
S., James G., George G., Edgar O, Mary E. and Albert A. 

Edward J. Farlow: lives in Ashland; is a merchant; was 
born in Rock Island county, Illinois; came to state in 1852; to 
county in 1868; was married October, 1875, to Mary D. Colver. 

Daniel F. Fisher: lives near Willow Springs; is a farmer; 
was born in Virginia; came to state in 1849, an d to county in 
1850; was married in 1864, to Mrs. Mary Peninger; Mrs. Pen- 
inger had ten children, only two of whom, David and Wil- 
liam, are living. 

Heaton Fox: lives in Ashland; is a farmer and black- 
smith; was born near Bradford, England, January 10, 1830; 
came to America in 1856, and to Oregon in i860; married first 
time, 1852, Sarah A. Pickard (since deceased); they had four 
cnildren, viz: William C, Nattie A., Eddy A., and Mindy A. 
Mr. Fox was again married October 1, 1866, to Marietta 
Kennedy. Children, Otto W., and Hiram N. 

James D. Fountain: lives in Ashland; is a merchant; 
was born in Boone county, Missouri; came to Oregon in 1852 
and to this county in 1866; was married in 1878, to Grace 
Russell. Children, Claude C. and Lylse. 

Pleasant L. Fountain: lives in Ashland; was bom in 
Linn county, Oregon, in 1853; came to this county in 1872; 
was married September 20, 1882, to Rebecca Hockersm'.th. 
Their only child, Ray, was born October 18, 1883. 

James J. Fryer: lives at Eagle Point; is a farmer and 
stock grower; was born in Norwich, England, October 19, 
1828; came to state and county in 1852; was married March 
5, 1868, to Vira J. Lewis. Children, Arglee, Gladius and 
Lelah. 

Samuel Furry: lives near Phcenix; is a farmer; was born 
in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1822: came 
to state and county in i860; was married in 1853, to Amelia 
Barneberg. Children, Enoch F., Donna M., Leona G., Ed- 
mona M. and Arthur S. 

I. Cornelius Gage: lives near Central Point; is a farmer; 
was born in Polk county, Oregon, in 1852; came to this 
county in 1867; was married August, 1876, to Mary Cromer. 
Children, Gilliam P. and Sarah G. 



K. II. GABBERT: lives at Grant's Pass; is proprietor of 
drug store; was born September 22, 1856, in Lane county, 
Oregon; came to county in 1S83; married Dec. 25, 1878, to 
Kittie Wiley. Only child, Erne. 

ROBERT GARRETT: lives in Ashland; is a contractor; was 
born in Benton county. Arkansas, March 1840: came to state 
in 1853, to county in 1871; was married October 20, 1877, to 
Miss Sarah E. Thornton. Children, Frank', Grade and Laura. 

O. O. GANIARD: lives in Sam's valley; is a merchant; was 
born in Bristol. New York, in 1S32; came to state in 1852; to 
county in 1872; was married July 5, 1858, to Lucinda Gani- 
ard. Children, Lottie, Fred and Oscar; the two boys are 
deceased. 

Dr. E. P. Geary: lives in Medford; is a physician and 
surgeon; was born in Brownsville, Oregon, April, 1859; came 
to Jackson county in 1882. 

James F. Gregory: lives on Sticky Flat; is a farmer; 
post-office address is Central Point; was born in Carroll 
county, Tennessee; came to state and county in 1872; was 
married in 1865, to Louisa Cochran. Children, J. Frank, El- 
mira, Lillie, Jessie, Josephine, Tamer and infant. 

Wm. J. Gregory: lives on Sticky Flat; is a farmer; was 
born in Jasper county, Tenn., 1830; came to state and county 
in 1864; was married November 24, 1859, to Elizabeth March. 
Children, Lucinda, Jennie (dec), Henry L., Lavina (dec. ), 
Wm. W. , Mary E. and James F. 

Absolf.m F. GlDEINGS: is a farmer; lives in Ashland; was 
born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1833; came to state and 
county in 1853; was married July 3, 1859, to Eliza E. Million. 
Children, Henry and Millie M. 

A. V. Gillette: lives in Ashland; is a carpenter; was 
born in Hartford, Connecticut; came to state and county in 
1857; was married March, 1855, to Martha L. Hill. Chil- 
dren, Charles H., Edgar I., Almon O, Carrie, Effie E., 
George V. and Hugh H, 

H. A. Grigsby: lives at Grant's Pass; is a liquor dealer; 
was born in Jersey county, Illinois: came to state and county 
in 1859; married Dec. 1855, to Ann M Pearce. Children, Flor- 
ence A., Ora X., La Forest C,, Basil, Durthulia L. , Kate, 
(deceased), Caddie C. (deceased), Sarah A. (deceased), Owen 
P. and Ollie M. 

Wm. Harris: lives in Ashland; is a butcher, was born in 
Hardin county, Ky., 1825; came to Cal. in 1852, to this state 
and county in 1877; was married in 1849, to Eliza Chenoweth; 
children, John C, Rhoda R., Sarelda, Lorina, Lizzie, Alice 
C. and Charlie A. 

Samuel Harkness: lives at Grant's Pass; is a farmer; 
was born in Salem, New York, 1818; came to state 1852 and 
to county in 1856; was married first time to Marietta Chap- 
man (deceased), in 1842; second time to Mrs. Susan Davis, in 
October, 1877. His children, Morris M., Homer D., Francis 
M., Samuel E. and Ida M. ; hers, Frank, Lou, Gain (de- 
ceased), Emma, Mellie, David G., Belle, Loren and Susie L. 

Benjamin Haymond: lives in Rock Point; is a merchant; 
born in Lewis county, Va. ; came to state in 1852, and county 
in 1857; married March 1868 to Hattie T. Beach. 

A. P, Hammond: lives in Ashland; is a lawyer: was born 
in Walcott, Wayne county, N. Y. : came to state and county 
in 1877; was married in 1852 to Elizabeth Schermerhorn (de- 
ceased); w 7 as subsequently married to Mrs. Emma Howard. 
First wife's children, Albert E., Sarah J. and John M. ; sec- 
ond wife's, Grace, Frank, Kate, Nellie, Thomas and Rob- 
ert. 

John E. Harvey: lives in Central Point; is a hotel keeper: 
was born in Lincolnshire, England; came to state and county 
in 1867; was married to Mrs. Auletta L. Buzan in June, 1872. 
Children, Margery and Addie Buzan, and John A. and Wil- 
liam H. Harvey. 

Mrs. Martha W. Hargadine: daughter of James Kilgore, 
resides in Ashland; is a farmer and stock grower, was born in 
Stark county, Ohio; came to state in 1854, and w : as married in 
1S56 to R. B. Hargadine (deceased); children, Chas. H., 
Marietta, Elizabeth E., George R. and John F. 

James W. Hayes; lives in Rock Point; is a blacksmith; 
was born in Barren county, Ky., 1842; came to state in 1854, 
to county 1868; married first time April 19, 1865, to Ellen 
Wallace (deceased); one child, Ellen May. Married second 
time Dec. 22, 1870, to Sophrona J. Cook; children, Elizabeth 
N., Lillie, James W., John M., Carrie and Hattie. 

Newton Haskins: lives at Sterling creek post office 
Jacksonville; is a miner; born in Knox county, 111.; came to 



504 



APPENDIX. 



state in 1854, to county in i860; married October 15, 1877, to 
Arzie Saltmarsh; children, Lavina, Edna, and Wallace. 

Jeremiah Heckethorn: lives on Butte creek; post 
office, Brownsborough; is a farmer and stock grower; born in 
Wayne county, Ohio; came to state and county in 1854; 
married June 1851, to Annie B. Gressley; children, Mary C., 
Annie C, Ida A., Dora, George, Martin, (Henry and Etta 
twins) Emma, Elsie, Florence (deceased), Francelia and Wil- 
liam. 

G. T. Hershbarger: lives in Central Point; is a specula- 
tor and farmer; was born at Fort Steilacoom, W. T. ; came to 
Oregon in 1857, and to this county in 1877; was married 
August 6, 1877, to Olive Kendig. 

H. V. HELMS: lives in Jacksonville; is a liquor dealer; was 
born in Holstein, Germany, August 18, 1832; came to this 
state and county in 1856; was married April 26, 1862, to Au- 
gusta Engelbrecht. Children, Lizzie, Edward H., Minnie, 
(deceased), Amanda, Matilda, Bertha, Emma E., Annie and 
Henry H. 

A. D. Hellman: lives in Ashland; is a farmer; came to 
state and county in 1852; was born April 10, 1824, in Ashland 
county, Ohio; was married April 23, 1849, to Martha J. 
Kanagy. Children, Almeda S., John K., Mary E.. Martha 
J., A. Lincoln, B. F. Butler, U. S. Grant and Otis O. 

John S. Herren: lives near Ashland; is a stock grower; 
was born in Hopkins county, Kentucky, November 15, 1827, 
came to state and county in 1855; was married in 1853, to 
Nancy C. Walker. Children, William F., John W., Mary A., 
David C, Edward W., Annetta M., Emma G. Carrie and 
Freddy. 

Charles B. High: lives in Ashland; is a teamster; was 
born in Montgomery county, 111., in 1846; came to state and 
county in 1878; married Feb. 22, 1870, to Carrie Bradford. 
Children, Marion G., Lewis N., Charles F., Jesse L. and 
Daisy A. 

Deston High: lives in Ashland; is a saloon keeper; was 
born November 9, 1849, in Montgomery county, 111.; came to 
state and county in 1877; was married in 1868 to Luella 
Cooley. Children, Ernest, Lester, Lilian and Luty. Mr. 
High was again married in 1879, to Miss Laura Barneberg. 
Her children, Mary E. and Lizzie. 

R. F. High: lives in Ashland; is a barber, was born in 
Montgomery county, 111., May 14, 1852; came to state and 
county 1877; was married to Laura A. Thompson, Aug., 24, 
1879; children, Herbert N. and Harry. 

Hansell C. Hill: lives in Ashland; is a furniture dealer; 
was born in Charleston, Massachusetts, in 1821; came to 
California in 1849, and to this state and county in 1854; was 
married in 1844 to Mary C. Nowell. Children, William, 
Annie M., Charles, George and Susan. 

John Holton: lives on Wagner creek post office Talent; is 
a farmer; born in Westminster Vt., July 6, i8i7;came to state 
and county in 1853; was married April 2, 1848, to Mrs. 
Hannah C. Chandler; one child, Ira P. 

Jasper HoucK: lives in Ashland; is a hotel keeper; came 
to state and county in 1852; was married January 1857, to 
Johannah Horn. Children, Teresse (deceased), Henry (cle- 
-ceased), Jesse J., Grace and Frederick. 

S. Houser: lives at Grant's Pass; is a railroad employe; 
born near Mogodore, Pennsylvania; came to state in 1864; to 
county in 1883; married December 19, 1879, to Ella Cham- 
berlain. Child, Ella. 

J. W. Howard: lives at Grant's Pass; is a merchant; was 
born in Warren county, Kentucky, in 1851; came to state 
and county in 1877; was married January 1, 1884, to Eudora 
Godfrey. 

E. B. Hunsaker: lives in Ashland; is a merchant; was born 
in Lane county, Oregon; came to this county in 1882; was 
married Feb. 19, 1879, to Cecelia L. Parker; one child, Carrie. 

J. B. R. Hutchings: lives in Ashland; is a general trader; 
was born in Madison county, Mo., 1840; came to state in 1877; 
to county in 1878; was married in 1872 to Martha Patton. 

J. W. Ingram: lives at Willow Springs; is a miner; was 
born in Cole county, Mo., in 1837, came to state and county 
in 1870. 

F. B. In low: lives in Eagle Point; is a merchant; was born 
in Bourbon county, Ky. ; came to state in 1854; to county in 
1875; married December 1858 to Matilda Zumwalt (deceased); 
children, Isabel (deceased), Frank B., John H., Nadis A. 
and Ada A.; was again married to Mrs. Ellen Morrison; one 
child, Freddie E. 



George W. Isaacs: lives on Little Butte creek; post-office 
address, Brownsborough; is a farmer and stock grower; born 
in Lincoln county, Tenn., 1831; came to state in 1852 and to 
county in 1858; was married December, 1870, to Mary A. 
Sevedge. Children, George W., Mary E., John S. (deceased) 
William T. and Charles W. 

Abraham S. Jacobs: lives in Jacksonville; present 
sheriff; by trade, stonemason; born in Johnson county, Ind. ; 
came to state in 1865 and to county in 1867; married March 
28, 1855, to Rebecca E. Mathes (deceased); was again mar- 
ried December 2, 1876, to Mrs. May Smith. Children, New- 
ton A., Lanes L., John W. and Mary F. 

Dr. Will Jackson : lives in Jacksonville; is a dentist; 
was born near Huntsville, Mo.; came to state in 1866, to 
county, 1869; was married April 27, 1871, to Hattie Thomp- 
son. Childrtn, Jennie, Jessie, Will Ray and Ruth. 

Stoughton P. Jones: lives in Jacksonville; is a saloon 
keeper; was born inToncanic, Penn., May 25, 1831; came to 
state and county in 1856; was married October 26, 1866, to 
Elizabeth V. Twogood. Children, Carrie B. and Lulu T. 

George R. Justus: lives at Grant's Pass; is a livery 
keeper; was born in Jackson county, Iowa, 1852; came to 
state and county in 1854; married November 8, 1881, to 
Sarah J. McKnight. 

Dr. Geo. Kahler: lives at Phoenix; is a physician; was 
born in Morgan county, Ohio, February, 1843: came to state 
and county in 1852; was married October, 1867, to Sylva 
Oglesby. Children, Orange, Earl, Albion, Fred and Linn. 

Charles W. Kahler: lives in Jacksonville; is a lawyer; 
was born in Morgan county, Ohio, November 4, 1840; ar- 
rived in state and county October, 1852. 

Chas. Keeton: lives in Jacksonville; is a farmer; was 
born in Cass county, Mo.; came to state and county in 1878; 
married November, 1881, to Ada Killahan. Child, infant. 

W. W. Kentnor: lives in Ashland; is a wagon maker; 
was born in Illinois, November 27, 1828; came to state and 
county in 1853; was married October 20, 1861, to Sarah A. 
Million. Children, Ida F., Johnnie and Albert. 

T. J. Kenney: lives in Jacksonville; is a saddler and har- 
ness maker; was born in Jackson county, Oregon; was mar- 
ried December 22, 1878, to Rosa Ulrich. Children. Daniel, 
Katie J. and Christian J. 

William G. Kenney: lives in Jacksonville; is a stage 
driver; was born in Jackson county, Oregon. 

T. T. McKf.NZIE: lives in Jacksonville; was born in Inver- 
nesshire, Scotland; came to state in 1855: to county in 1865; 
married March 27, 1866, to Rebecca Hopwood. Children, 
May, (deceased), Percy, Selina, Thomas, Monroe, William 
and Charles P. 

William R. Kincaid: lives near Ashland; is a former 
post-master of Ashland; was born April 6, 1843, in Augusta 
county, Va. ; came to state and county in 1864; married June, 
20, 1869, to Ophelia J. Evans. Children, William D. , May- 
Ann, Alice M., Ettie F., Archie R., Daisy O. and Martha J. 
Simon Klingle: lives on Little Butte creek; post-office is 
Brownsborough; was born in Pike county, 111.; came to state 
and county in 1866; married 1868 to Anna M. Sullivan. 
Children, Katie (deceased), Charles and Ellen. 

C. K. Klum: lives in Ashland; is a dealer in saddlery and 
harness; was born in Franklin county, Ind. ; came to state in 
1847 and to county in 1853; was married June, 1875, to Lu- 
cinda H. Finley. Children, Hypatia, Charles W. and Blaine. 
C. Kleinhammer: lives near Phoenix; is a farmer; was 
born in Hanover, Germany, October 24, 1832; came to state 
and county in i860; married in Linn county, Oregon, 1863, 
to Francis A. Saltmarsh. Children, Frederick, Catherine M., 
Arthur S., Mary I., Augusta, Mazette and William. 

Frank Krause: lives in Jacksonville; is a printer and 
telegraph operator; was born in Burlington, Iowa, March 5, 
1851; come to state and county in i860; married March 5, 
1879, toMissMollie S. Bilger. Children, Ella L. and Frank O. 
Kasper Kubli: lives in Jacksonville; is a hardware mer- 
chant; was born in Canton Glarus, Switzerland; was married 
December 27, 1857, to Elenor J. Newcomb. Children, 
Ellen Watson, Henfy, Minerva (deceased), Francis (deceased), 
Kasper, Lulu and Valine. - 

Geo. W. Lance: lives at the mouth of Foot's creek; post- 
office address Rock Point; is a farmer and stock grower; was 
born in White county, Tenn., March 11, 1832; came to state 
and county in 1870; was married October, 1870, to Mrs. 
Esther Fitzgerald, daughter of John Robb. Children, George 



APPENDIX. 



505 



W. and Francis M.; by second marriage, William, Lillie and 
Mary. 

William T. Leever: lives near Central Point; is a 
farmer; was born in Clermont county, Ohio, February 27, 
1829; came to state in 1853 and to county in 1854; marred 
January r, 1857, to Elizabeth M. Constant. Children, Win. 
C, Lavinia Ida, Edmondson C, D. Carlos, Thomas, Ada, Lu- 
cinda, Nellie and Lizzie. 

James R. Little: lives in Jacksonville; dealer in tobaccos, 
confectionery, etc.; born in Jacksonville. 

DAVID Linn: lives in Jacksonville; is a contractor and 
furniture manufacturer; was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, 
October 28, 1826; came to state in 1851 and to county in 
1852; married Anna S. Huffman August 30, i860. Children, 
Corinne, Maggie, William, Fletcher, George, Mary and James. 
Tobias L. Linkwiler: lives on Antelope creek; is a farmer; 
post office, Eagle Point; born in Rockbridge county, Virginia; 
came to state and county in 1852; married in 1859 to Mrs. 
Hannah Riley. Children, George, William, Joseph, James, 
Ellen and Catherine. 

Charles W. Logan: lives in Ashland; is a photographer; 
was born in Davenport, Iowa; came to state in 1868 and to 
county in 1871; married September, 1879, to Hattie M. 
Reeser. Child, Blanche D. 

E. H. Lofftus: lives in Ashland; is a stock raiser; was 
born in Christian county, Kentucky in 1827; came to state in 
1853 aniJ to county in 1859; was married in 1852 to Elizabeth 
Banta. Children, Mary F., Columbus C, Edward H., John 
W. and Oscar D. 

Patrick Lyttleton: lives in Ashland; is a gardener and 
horticulturist; was born in Pennsylvania June 8, 1837; came 
to the state and county in 1879. 

G. H. Lynch: lives on Wagner creek; is a farmer; post- 
office, Talent; born in Brunswick county, Virginia; came to 
state and county in 1869; married November 12, 1866, to Rosa 
Lynxwiler. Children, W. M. F., Mary E., Lillie R., Clara 
E. , Travis H., Harry S., and Warren. 

Carrel B. Matney: lives on Applegate creek; is a farmer 
and blacksmith; was born in Redford county, Tenn.; came to 
state in 1850, to county 1852; was married July 24, 1859, to 
Margaret A. Maupin; children, Samuel (deceased), Jefferson 
D., Alvis M., Carrel B. (deceased), Nancy, Martha J., Thomas 
F., Mary, William W., George W., John N, May, Isaac D., 
Millie, Icy B. and infant. 

John Mathews: lives at Eagle Point; is a farmer; was born 
in Montgomery county, N. C, March 2, 1816; came to state 
and county in 1853; was married October 1837, to Elizabeth 
Wooley; children, William (deceased), Drucilla, Millie, Dud- 
ley P., America, Ruth, Hezekiah, Juda R. , Mary E., Elizabeth 
J. (deceased), Martha, Maria, Green B., Champion G. and 
Minerva (deceased). 

Col. Reuben F. Maury: lives near Jacksonville, is a 
farmer, was born in Bath county, Ky. ;came to state and county 
in 1852; was married December 14, 1856, to Elizabeth Cham- 
bers: children, L. P., G. L,, Mary P., H C, Sallie A. and 
Effie (deceased). Mrs. Maury died August 27, 1878. Col. 
Maury was in Mexican war in 1846 and promoted during war 
to Second Lieutenant. In 1861 raised first regiment Oregon 
cavalry. 

Simon McCallister: lives at Soda Springs on Butte 
creek, is a school teacher; post office Brownsborough; was 
born in Sangamon county, 111., 1831; came to state in 1852, 
to county in 1861; was married September 21, 1853, to Eliza- 
beth Ogle; children, Mary E., Celia A., James A., John G., 
Elizabeth H., Minnie G. and Joseph M. " 

C. C. McClendon: lives in Sam's Valley; is a farmer; post 
office Sam's Valley, was born in Bledsaw county, Tenn., 1832, 
came to state in 1852, to county in 1864; married October 6, 
1858, to Susan Brown; children, William P. (deceased), Ben- 
jamin F. (deceased), Mary J., Joseph B., Samuel W., Susan- 
nah (deceased), John H., Rosa M., Lillie B. and Nora B. 

John Wilmer McCully: formerly of Jacksonville, now of 
Joseph, Oregon, is a physician, was born in New Brunswick: 
came to state in 185 1, and to county 1852; was married June 
28, 1848, to Miss Janet Mason, of Allowa, Scotland; children, 
James C, Mollie Bell, (Merrett died January 1884), and Issie. 
J. P. McDaniel: lives in Jacksonville: is a miner; came to 
state in 1852, and to county in 1854; was married November 
20, 1872, to Catherine Parker; children, Fred, James, Ida, 
Ella, (Eddie and Emma twins). 

James McDonough: lives near Willow Springs; is a farmer 
(is 



and carpenter; was born in Greene county, Penn., June 8, 1826; 
came to state and county in 1852; was married August 18, 
1855, to R. M. Kahler; children, Sarah C. (deceased), Carlos, 
Helen, Harriett, John W., Martin C. and George. 

John W. McKay: lives near Willow Springs; is a farmer; 
was born in Iredelle county, North Carolina; came to state 
and county in 1852; was married December 1, 1861, to Sarah 
A. Slagle; children, Robert L. (deceased), Martha A. (de- 
ceased), Hughey, Nancy C George G. and John H. 

Robert McLean: lives in Ashland; is a Presbyterian min- 
ister; was born Oneida county, N. Y. , February 22, 1846; 
came to state and county in 1883; married August 29, 1877, to 
Lucy R. Norris; children, Roy McGregor, and Robert N. 

Mrs. Artinf.ciaMerriman: lives near Central Point; isa 
farmer postoffice Jacksonville; was born in Champagne county, 
Ohio in 1830; came to state 1851, and to county in 1856; 
Artinecia (Riddle) Merriman was married February 22, 1848, 
to James Chapman deceased; children, John W., Lucinda J., 
George F., Laura A., Maria E., Annie A., Isaac A., Mary B., 
Isabel, Effie, Josephine and Willie; Mr. Merriman had one 
daughter Anletta L. ;Mrs. Merriman has buried four children, 
Chas. H., Walter, Prudence and Winaford. 

William H. Merriman: died in Jackson county, Sep- 
tember 16, 1877; was a cabinet maker and joiner; was born 
in Kentucky; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1856; 
was married February 10, 1853, to Mrs. A. Chapman. 

H. C. Messenger: lives in Ashland; proprietor of saw 
mill; was born in Chenango county, N. Y. ; came to state in 1858 
and to county in 1879; married, July 5, 1882, to Bessie L. 
Marsh. Only child, Walter J. 

Bennett Million: lives at Ashland; is a farmer; was 
born in Adair county, Ky., February 12, 1812; came to state 
and county in 1854; was married March 24, 1841, to Miss 
Armilda Beam. Children, Eliza E., John B., Sarah A., 
Laura J., Martha, Kizzie A., Phebe A., Jackson M., Caetha E-, 
William B., Joseph T. and Charles C, all living in the same 
vicinity. 

John S. Miller: lives on Applegate creek; is a farmer; 
born in Clay county, Mo., in 1824; came to state in 1846 and 
to county in 1852; was married May 27, 1852, to L. Mar- 
garet Griffin. Children, Josephine, Nancy, Richard (de- 
ceased), Louisa, John, Anistasia, Burrel, Lydia (deceased) 
and Walter. Mr. Miller was in the Cayuse war. 

Col. J. N. T. Miller: lives in Jacksonville; is a farmer 
and stock grower; born in Kentucky, 1826; came to state in 
1845 and to county in 1854; married August, 1852 to Bessie 
H. Awbery. 

John Miller: lives in Jacksonville; is gunsmith and 
hardware merchant; born in Barbaren, Germany; came to 
state and county in i860; married March, 1854, to Mary 
Shmutz. Children, Melia, Sarah M., Philip, Katie, John, 
Mollie and Henry. 

David H. Miller: lives at Medford; is a merchant; was 
born in Jefferson county, Iowa, May 10, 1859; came to 
county in 1875; was married July 2, 1871, to Elmira Brons. 
Benjamin F. Miller: lives near Rock Point; is a horti- 
culturist; was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, July 31, 1832; 
came to Oregon in 1854; married May 14, 1857, to Martha 
J. Sutton. Children, Mary E., Benjamin C, John T. and 
Maggie A. 

A. S. Moon: lives in Sam's valley; is a merchant; born in 
Susquehanna counry, Penn. ; came to state and county in 
1859; married April 11, 1865, to Melissa Cox. Children, 
Laura, Grant (deceased), Charles, Ralph, Newman and Tru- 
man (twins), Beulah, George, Andrew, Martha and Clara 
(deceased). 

Raphael Morat: lives near Jacksonville; is a grape and 
wine glower and distiller; was bom near Pyrenees mountains, 
France; came to California in 1859 and to state and county 
in 1870. 

Samuel Morgan: lives in Ashland; is a blacksmith; was 
born in Stark county, Ohio, August 23, 1832; came to state 
September 15, 1850; to county, 1851; was married first to 
Miss Wells, (deceased), and was again married to Martha 
Hendrix in 1878. Children, William, William, Francis, 
James, Myrtle B., John B. and Samuel. 

Edwin Morgan: lives at Phoenix; is proprietor of a 
saloon and livery stable; was born in Little Dean, Gloucest- 
ershire, Eng. ; came to state and county in 1852; married, 
1857, to Lucretia Oden. Children, Sarah E., Mary C, 
Charles D., Walter S., Richard M., Mark P. and William H. 



506 



APPENDIX. 



Lorenzo I). Montgomery: lives in Ashland; was born 
in Hancock county, Ind., August 18, 1823; came to Califor- 
nia in 1849, to state in 1854, and to county in 1858. 

Phillip Mullen: lives in Phoenix; is a miner and 
assayer; born in Sullivan county, N. Y., June 14, 1839; 
came to state and county in 1875. 

Max Muller: lives in Jacksonville; is a merchant; born 
in Reckendorf, Germany; came to state and county in 1855; 
married June II, 1868, to Louise Hesse. Children, Ike, 
Emily, Betta, Will and Sophie. 

Granville Naylor: lives near Jacksonville; is a farmer; 
was born in Jackson county, Ind., Feb. 16, 1822; came to 
state in 1851; to county in 1853; was married June, 1848, to 
Minerva Seris. Children, Adolphus, Malvina, Melvin, Net- 
tie, Alta, Minerva and Ida. 

Claiborn Neil: lives near Ashland; is a farmer; was 
born in Claiborn county, East Tenn. ; came to state in 1853, 
and to county in (854; was married Dec. 5, 1839, to Louisa 
C. Gibson. Children, James R., John H., William L., Sarah 
A., Leander A., Robert P., Louisa C, Thomas S., Tennessee 
V., Mary A., J. C. and Gertrude. 

Leander A. NEIL: lives near Ashland; is a farmer and 
stock raiser; was born in Tennessee; came to state in 1853, 
and to county in 1854; was married Nov. 14, 1880, to Augusta 
R. Sisson. Children, Elmore S. and Ellis. 

M. Nickf.lson: lives at Ashland; is a blacksmith; was 
born in Holland county, Norway, May 26, 1831; came to 
America July, 1849, ar >d to Oregon in 1854. 

J. H. Oatman: lives near Phoenix; is a farmer; was born 
in Ogle county, 111., Jan. 28, 1849; came to state and county 
in 1853; was married Dec. 31. 1875, to Priscilla Dollarhide. 
Children, Olive I. and Jessie. 

Bartlett Obenchain: lives near Central Point; is a 
farmer and stock grower; was born in Bantontot county, Va. ; 
came to state and county in 1862; married June 23, 1850, to 
Nancy Morse. Children, Elias N. (deceased), Alice L, Hi- 
ram N. (deceased), Elizabeth H. (deceased^ Maldoren, Jennie, 
Silas H., Sarah M., Nancy M., Minnie C. and George E. 

John Orth: lives in Jacksonville; is a butcher; was born 
in Bavaria, Germany, May 14, 1834; came to state 1857, and 
to county in 1859; was married March, 1862, to Ella Hill. 
Children, Flora, Celia, Charles S. (deceased), Josephine, John 
S. (deceased), Annie, Henry and Ella. 

William Patton: lives near Talent; is a farmer; came 
to state in 1873 and to county in 1874; was born in Vermilion 
county, 111., 1827; married June 13, i852, to Marena A. 
Parham, born December 8, 1834. Children, Mary F., Geor- 
getta C, Annie B., Emma E., Willie S., Laura M., Alpha 
C. and Nathan F. 

Jacob Parks: lives near Sterling creek: proprietor of saw 
mill; post-office address, Jacksonville; was born in Powshiek 
county. Iowa; came to state in 1875, to county in 1880; was 
married in 1871 to Lizzie Waters. Children, Edna M., Mat- 
tie A., Ethel v.,' Ella A. and Hollis I. 

W11, H. Parker: lives at Brownsborough; is a school 
teacher; was born in Knox county; 111., in 1845; came to 
state in 1852; to county in 1854; was married August 11, 1867, 
to Fannie Jones. Children, Jennie, Iva M., George, Day, 
Otis, Joseph Watt. 

Charles C. Parker: lives on Cain's creek; is a farmer 
and lumberman; post-office, Willow Springs; was born in 
Marion county, Oregon; came to county in August 1854; was 
married October 13, 1880, to Mrs. Mary M. Marshall. Chil- 
dren, Charles S and Delbert H. ; children by first marriage, 
Joseph E. and Hartie Bell. 

James A. Pankey: lives in Sam's valley; is a farmer; was 
born in Hickman county, Tenn.; came to state in 1853, and 
to county in 1859; was married March 1842, to Fannie Strick- 
lin. Children, Catherine (deceased), Sarah J., Martha L. , 
Lydia (deceased), Thomas L., Mary A., Emily and Emma, 
twins, and Ross (deceased). 

J. S. Parson: lives in Ashland; is a physician and surgeon; 
was born in Lycoming county, Pa., in 1 850; came to state 
and county in 1881; was married October 11, 1882, to Olive 
Belle Drake. 

Rev. Martin Peterson: lives at "Mound Ranch," on 
Sticky Flat, is a minister and farmer; post-office, Jackson- 
ville; was born near Cincinnati, Ohio; came to state and 
county in 1864; was married in 1842, to Sarah Arrowood (de- 
ceased), leaving one child, Mary E. Was again married Sep- 
tember 18, 1844, to Elizabeth Hamrick. Children, Lorena 



(deceased), Kittie, Silas (deceased), William G. (deceased), 
Smith (deceased), Frank (deceased). 

Enoch Pelton: died in Sam's valley; was a farmer; was 
born near Little Rock, Ark,; came to State and county in 
1853; married Mary S. Rowe, in 1857. Children, Horace, I. 
James W. and John E. 

David Peninger: lives near Willow Springs; is a farmer; 
was born in Lewis county, Virginia; came to state and county 
in 1852; was married March 1869, to Louisa Cox. Children, 
John and Charles, twins, George (deceased), Fred and Hattie. 

George F. Pennebaker: lives at Talent; is a farmer; 
was born in Shelby county, Ky., April 1, 1821; came to state 
and county in 1879; was married April 8, 1858, to Sarah A. 
Predmore. Children, E. Delia, John S., George W. , Mary 
B. and Edwin R. 

Samuel Phillips: lives on Applegate creek; is afarmer 
and stock grower; post-office, Uniontown; was born in Wayne 
county, Ky., in 1819; came to state and county in 1853; was 
married January 1, 1858, to Mrs. Elizabeth J. Finley. Chil- 
dren by first marriage, Lucinda, William, Henry and Grant; by 
second marriage, Adaline and Charles R. 

Arthur Pool: lives at Eagle Point; is a blacksmith and 
hotel keeper; was born in Bedford county, Penn. ; came to 
state and county in 1873; was married September 4, 1852, to 
Lettie Apger. Children, Carinda E., James M., Josephine, 
Chester W., Rhoda A., Dora M., Winfield, Belle (deceased), 
Carrie, Benton, Arthur and Lottie (deceased). Mrs. Pool 
died at Eagle Point August 1882. 

M. Purdin: lives at Eagle Point; is a blacksmith; was 
born in Linn county, Mo.; came to state in 1864, and to 
county in 1873; was married Sept. 1874, to Lizzie Worlow. 
Children, Ira E., Iva, Lindsay and Lottie. 

William Ray: lives on Applegate creek; isa farmer, post of- 
fice Jacksonville; born in Butler county, Penn.; came to state 
and county in 1857; was married October 23, 1872, to Mrs. 
Louisa Engart Ward (deceased); children, William, Robert, 
Mary B. and Mathew. 

Geo. W. Ratrie: lives on South fork of Butte creek; is a 
farmerand stock grower; was born in Loudoun county, Virginia; 
came to the state, and county in j86o; was married January 
15, 1872, to Sarah Swingle; children, Henry H., Edith O., 
May, and Ida S. Post office Brownsboro. 

Alfred F. Ragsdale: lives on Salt creek; is a farmer and 
stock raiser; post office is Brownsborough; was born in Jackson 
county, Georgia, came to state in 1852, and to county in 1872; 
was married July 2, 1872, to Malinda W. Taylor. 

James R. Reams: lives near Phoenix, is a farmer; was born 
in Gracen county, K., January 6, 1844, came to state and to 
county in 1853; married May 16, 1875, to Lavica A. Strong; 
children, Lillie M., Elsie A. Harry W. and Neilie. 

C. H ReeD: lives in Jacksonville, is a painter; was born in 
Howard county, Ky., came to state in 1853, and to county in 
1854; was married June 23, 1863, to Calista Smith; children, 
Edd, Dell, Myrtle and Frank. 

Miller G. Royal: lives in Ashland; is principal of Ash- 
land College; was born October 6, 1853; in Roop county, 
Nevada; came to state in 1853; was married August 19, 1 877, to 
Tirzah H. Bigelow. Only child, Ethel. 

Louis A. Rose: lives in Phcenix, is a farmer and stock 
grower; was born in Lee county, Iowa. June 12 1846; came to 
state and to county in 1852; was married November 16, 1871, 
to Isabel Colver; children, Effie L.. Ella M., Louis A. and 
Bertha M. 

Samuel M. Robison: lives on Wagner creek; isa farmer, 
post office Talent, is a native of Indiana; came to state and coun- 
ty in 1853; was married April 13, 1864, to Hannah E. Barne- 
berg; children, John R., Susan A., George M., William G., 
Ella D. and Delia M. 

Carl G. B. Rostel: lives in Jacksonville, is a tonsorial 
artist; was born November 25, 1849, in Filehne, Germany; 
came to state and county in 1877; was assistant surgeon in 
Franco-Prussian war. 

James R. Russell: lives in Ashland; is a marble cutter; is 
a native of Tennessee; came to state and county in 1851; mar- 
ried May 9, 1854, to Ann Hasseltine Hill. Children, James 
B., Grace, Nellie, Martha, Mary, Hortese, Docia, Bertha E., 
Mabel E., Carl Marvin, Pearl H. 

H. D. Russell: lives on Forest creek, is a miner; post office 
Jacksonville; was born in Wabash county, Ind., in 1847; came 
to state in 1878, to county in 1881; married November I, 1878, 
to Eliza J. Morgan; children, Edward and Nathan. 



APPENDIX. 



507 



JOSEPH B. SALTMARSH: lives on Sterling creek; is a 
miner; post-office is Jacksonville; was born in Ripley county, 
Ind., 1S25; came to state in 1851 and to county in 1852 ; was 
married first. February 19, 1S52, to Mary E. Kluum (de- 
ceased). Children, Annie and Charles M. (deceased), Ar- 
thur, Arzie, Lillie and Edward. Was again married, Novem- 
ber 24, 18S1, to Mrs. Ella Cameron. One child, Madison. 
Mrs. Cameron at time of last marriage had two children, Ola 
B. and Mary J. 

Viet Schutz: lives in Jacksonville; is a brewer; came 
from Bavaria, Germany; came to state in 1852 and to county 
in IS53; married Hannah Libge. Children, Gurtof, Delia, 
William and Emma. Mr. Schutz keeps the largest brewery 
in Southern Oregon 

J. A. Sears: lives in Ashland; is a barber; was born in 
Ashland October 10, 1863; is the son of Joseph and Eliza 
Sears, who came to Oregon from Iowa in 1S54. 

Conrad S. SERGENT: lives in Phcenix; is a merchant; 
was born in Western Virginia, July 21, 1832, came to state and 
county in 1853; was married, August, 1856, to Loetta Houck. 
Children, Maggie E. and Laura D. 

Peter Simon: lives at Eagle Point; is a tavern keeper 
and farmer; was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, in 1827; 
came to state and county in 1854; was married August 11, 
1850, to Elizabeth Etzenhauser, of Hesse. Children living 
are John H., Alice C, Daniel M., Emma S., Peter C. and 
Edward F.; deceased, Conrad F., Edward, Mary A., Cath- 
erine E., Peter, Charles W. and Margaret. 

Pleasant Smith: lives in Sam's valley; is a farmer; was 
born in Cock county, Term. ; came to state in 1874 and to 
county in 1876; was married in 1843 to Sarah Hackney. 
Children living, Darthula, William L., Alexaider, Martha 
A., Lot C. and Lewis; children deceased, Henry C, Lycur- 
gus, Nancy J., Margaret, and Absolom. 

John W. Smith: lives on Big Sticky; is a farmer; post- 
office, Central Point; was born in Cass county, Mich.; came 
to state and county in 1870; was married December 22, 
1859, to Melissa A. Norton. Children, Geo. B., Arthur A., 
Charles H., Frank D., Rollin E., Alfred, Lewis E. and Le- 
roy A. (twins), and John W. 

J. A. Slover: lives in Jacksonville; is a minister and 
hotel keeper; was born in Jefferson county, East Tenn., 1824; 
came to state and county in 1881; was married first time to 
H. Ingram. Children, John E., Thomas J., Elizabeth J., 
Russell H., and Melvina. Was married second time to Mrs. 
Josephine M. Rogers. Children, Mary E. , Fannie I., James 
A., George H. and infant (deceased). 

William F. Songer: lives in Ashland; is a farmer and 
stock grower; was born in Washington county, 1826; came to 
state in 1S52 and to county in 1854; was married in 1869 to 
Mrs. Cecelia Slade, whose children were Charles W., Frank 
O. and Belle. Mr. and Mrs. Songer's only child is Mary E. 

Dr. A. C. Stanley: lives in Sam's valley; is a physician; 
post-office is Sam's Valley; was born in Berry county, Mo., 
September 30, 1835; came to state and county in 1875; was 
married first to Miss Sarah Burns (deceased), in 1856, and to 
Miss Susan Martin, October 24, 1862. Child, Ledoth Ellen. 
Dr. Stanley was in the state legislature in 1880 and 1882. 

Jacob Stone: lives in Ashland; is a carpenter; was born 
in Virginia, August 24, 1844; came to state in 1869 and to 
county in 1873; was married in 1868 to Rachel Wimer. 
Children, Daniel W. , Eva May, Sarah E., Pearly, Jennie 
F., Mary L. and Cora E. 

Mrs, M. E. Sturgis: lives near Uniontown, on Apple- 
gate; is a farmer; was born in Quincy, 111.; came to state and 
county in i860; was married in 1861; maiden name, M. E. 
Talley. Children, Winter, Albert (deceased), and FredT. 

John SwindeN: lives on Cain's creek; is a miner and 
farmer; post-office, Rock Point; was born in Vorkshire, Eng. ; 
came to state in 185 1 and to county in 1852; was married 
May 9, 1849, to Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson, who at this time had 
one child, James. Children, Sarah A., (deceased), Mary A., 
Georgia A., William H., Robert F., John E., Olive E., 
George W., Charles L., Kate, Rhoda J. and Agnes I. 

ROBERT Taylor: lives at Ashland; is a saloon keeper; 
was born in Philadelphia, June M. 1853; came to state and 
county in 1869; was married July 3, 1876, to Louisa Brittain. 
Children, Eva and Jay. 

A. P. Talent: lives in Talent;- is a merchant; was born in 
Blunt county, Tenn., May 15, 1836; came to state and county 
in 1875; was married in 1859, to Mrs. Martha A. Phifer. Chil- 



dren, W. A., John T., Sigourney A., Margaret J., lames ()., 
Etta, S., Bertha M., Charles T. and Martha M. 

JACOB Thompson: lives in Ashland; is proprietor of livery 
stable; was born in Greene county, Ind.; came to state in 
1847, and to county in 1855: was married September 10,1863, 
to Mrs. America E. Butler. Step-son, Gwin S. Butler. 

JAMES Thornton; lives at Ashland; is general superin- 
tendent of Ashland woolen mills; is a native of Indiana; 
came to state in 1850: to county in 1854; was married in 1848, 
to Isabel Wallace (deceased, 1862). Children, Kate A., 
Laura B., Sarah E., L. H.; was again married June 1863, to 
Miss Lizzie Patterson. Children, Fred S., Hattie M., James 
E. and Ole A. 

Job R. Tozer: lives at Ashland; is a mechanic and builder; 
was born in December 30, 1842, in Pennsylvania; came to 
state 1865, and county in 1868; was married July 18, 1867, to 
Harriet Briggs (deceased). Only child, Albert B. Was 
again married June 14, 1874, to Louisa C. Neil. 

John R. Tyce: lives near Jacksonville; is a farmer; was 
born in Covington, Ind., August 15, 1832; came to state in 
1851, and to county in 1853; was married June 5, 1856, to 
Margaret Wright. Children, Fred, Annie A., Walter A., 
Nettie I., Charlie, Harry F., Effie F., Maggie L., John J., 
Thos. R. and Paul. 

John Watson: lives near Central Point, is a farmer and 
stock grower post office Jacksonville born in St. Stephens, New 
Brunswick, came to state and county in 1854; married 1861, 
to Phebe Hill. 

John P. Walker: lives near Ashland; is a farmer; was born 
in Christian county, Ky.; came to state and county in 1853; 
married J-anuary 26, 1855, to Mrs. Mary A. Walker; children, 
Mary E., Milo A. Cassias C, and Annie T. 

Jacob Wagner: lives in Ashland; is a miller; was born 
September 26, 1S20, in Dayton, Ohio; came to state in I850, 
and to county in 185 1 ; was married in i860, to Ellen Hendrix. 
Children, Annethi, John M., Frederick N., Mabel E., Ella 
T., Jessie N. and Jacob Ernest. 

John W. Wells: lives near Ashland; is a farmer and stock 
raiser; was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, October 26, 
1843; came to state and county in 1853; was married June 4, 
1878, to Mrs. Phebe J. Walker. Only one child, Spratt. Mrs. 
Walker's children, Camilla E. and Phebe M. 

Charles E. White: lives near Rock Point; is a farmer; 
was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan; came to state in 1858, 
and to county in 1859; was married December 24, 1878, to 
Mollie Farra. Children, Codies and Harry. 

H. L. White: lives in Rock Point, is a hotel and livery 
keeper, was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan; came to state 
in 1858 and to county in 1859; married October 13, 1880, to 
Hattie A. Tuffs. Children, Charles T. and William M. 

L. J. White: died at Rock Point October 25, 1877; was a 
native of Livingston county, N. V. ; came to state in 1858, and 
to county in 1859; was married June 27, 1844, to Jane E. 
Ganyard. Children, George (deceased), Julius (deceased), 
Leicester, Henry, Charles, Colonel, and Ella (deceased). Mr. 
W T hite was the principal founder of Rock Point. 

George M. Willard: lives in Ashland; is a merchant; was 
born in Orange county, Vt., February 26, 1853; came to state 
in 1882 and to county in 1883; was married December 23, 
1876 to Lottie C. David, of Minneapolis, Min. 

Wise Bros. : lives in Ashland; are merchants; Solomon 
was born September 26, 1854, and J. M. July 5, 1856 in New 
Vork city; Solomon came to state and county in 1878; J. M. 
came to state in 1877 and to county in 1882. 

John Wi.ntjen: lives in Jacksonville, is a liquor dealer; 
was born in 1823, in Kahstidt, Germany. 

James P. Woodson: lives in Ashland, is a teamster and 
farmer; was born in Richmond, Virginia, June 7, 1830; came 
to state in 1839; was married November 7, 1864, to Laura J. 
Million. Children, Flora A., Delia M., Phebe A., Maggie, 
George B. and Nellie B 

H. H. Wolters: lives in Ashland; is a butcher; is a na- 
tive of New Vork city; came to state and county in 1 861. 

Thomas Wright: lives near Willow Springs, is a farmer 
and stock raiser; was born in Madison count}-, Ky., came to 
state and county in 1852; was married May 27, 1863, lo 
Elizabeth Cooper. Children, Laura (deceased), William N., 
Mary M. and Margaret E. 

George Vawdes: lives on Sterling creek; is a miner and 
farmer post office, Jacksonville; is a native of Tenn. ; came to 
state and county in 1852; was married December I, 1872, to 



508 



APPENDIX. 



Mrs. Annie Comstock. Mrs. C. had one child, Oda; by last 
marriage has, Letta M., Aaron B. and Albert. 

Nicholas A. Young: lives near Eagle Point; is a farmer 
and stock grower; was born in Lorraine, France, in 1824; 



came to state and county in 1852; was married in 1865, to 
Willimina Shriner (deceased 1882). Children, Anna, Peter 
F., Thomas F., Katie, Nicholas and Clara M. 



JOSEPHINE COUNTY. 



Mrs. Mary Adams: lives on Deer creek; is a farmer; 
post-office is Kerbyville; was born in Washington county, 
Ohio, in 1830; came to state in 1853 and to county in 1854; 
married William Guest in 1848, who was killed in the Rogue 
river war. Children, John R., Lucy and William H. Was 
again married in 1857 to Edwin Potter (deceased 1770); since 
married Mr. Adams. 

James W. Baine: lives on Sucker creek; is a farmer; post- 
office is Althouse; was born in Somerset county, Maine; came 
to state and county in 1869; married November 22, i860, to 
Sarah A. Wesscott. Children, Elizabeth E., Josie B. and 
Emma B. 

William H. Basye: lives on Missouri flat on Applegate 
creek; is a farmer; post-office address, Applegate; was born 
in Tippecanoe county, Inch, in 1830; came to state in 1847 
and to county in 1862; married, March 3, 1850, to Elizabeth 
Streithoff. Children, Thomas E., Miranda (deceased), Ce- 
celia, Charles H., Theodore, Jenette and Lucius C. 

Melchi Baughman: lives in Kerbyville; is a miner; was 
born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1831; came to state and 
county in 1852; was married December 27, 1882, to Lottie 
Cheatham. Only child, John J. 

C. H. Beach: lives on Democrat gulch; is a merchant and 
miner; post-office, Althouse; is postmaster; was born in Nor- 
folk, Conn.; came to state and county in 1854. 

Rial Benedict: lives on Applegate creek; is a farmer and 
stock raiser; post-office, Applegate; was born in Genessee 
county, N. Y., 1828; came to state in 1852 and to county in 
1853; was married January 1, 1845, t0 Mary J. Congle (de- 
ceased May 6, 1880.) 

John M. Bour: lives on Illinois river; is a miner; post- 
office, Kerbyville; was born in Lorriane, France, 1814; came 
to state and county in 1852; married Barbara Dessinger, Sep- 
tember, 1861. Children, Joseph, Frank, David, Peter, Mary, 
Victor, Charles and George. 

John O'Brien: lives on Applegate; is a farmer and stock 
raiser; post-office, Applegate; was born in county Galway, 
Ireland, 1828; came to state and county in 1852; was mar- 
ried March 19, 1862, to Sarah S. Barkdull. Children, Emmett 
John E., James A. and Sarah R. 

A. H. Carson: lives on Applegate; is a nurseryman; post- 
office is Murphy; was born in Washington county, Ohio, in 
1843; came to state and county in I874; was married April 
24, 1866, to Miss M. E. Donnelley. Children, Alice and 
Lewis; May and infant are deceased. 

Lyman Chappell: lives on Applegate; is a hotel keeper 
and farmer; post-office, Applegate; was born in Livingstone 
county, N. Y., 1816; came to state in 1854 and to county in 
i858; was married December, 1850, to Sarah Fritz. 

William Chapman: lives near Kerbyville; is a stock 
grower; was born in Devonshire, England; came to state in 
1850 and to county in 1853; was married May, 1849, to Mary 
A. How (deceased June, 188I.) Children, William H. 
(drowned at Corvallis, 1875), Mary A. (deceased), Arthur J., 
Annie A. (deceased) and Thomas H. 

Andrew J. Cook: lives on Applegate; is a farmer and 
stock grower; post-office, Applegate; was born in Blunt 
county, Tenn.; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1861. 

M. D. L. Crooks: lives on Deer creek; is a farmer; post- 
office, Kerbyville; was born in Wayne county, Kentucky, in 
1829; came to state and county in 1854; married March, 
1864, to Mary J. Ditmars. Children, Nora, Annie, Joseph- 
ine (deceased), Francis M., Tletha, Sophia and Lenora J. 

Isaac Custeb: lives on Applegate ; is a farmer and car- 
penter; post-office. Murphy; was born in Champagne county, 
Ohio, in 1830; came to state and county in i87i; was mar- 
ried November 28, 1852, to Abigail Hayes. Children, Laura, 
Lydia J., Alice M., Franklin (deceased), Alonzo, Ida A., 
John W. and Boardman H. 

Charles Duncan: lives near Kerbyville; is a farmer; was 
born in Indiana county, Penn., 1845; came to state in i860 
and to county in 1866; married April 24, 1867, to Sophia 



Horner. Children, Ida M., Ella A., George, Fred, Sophia, 
Charles and infant. 

Thomas F. Floyd: lives on Illinois river; is a farmer; 
post-office, Kerbyville; was born in Chemung county, N. Y. ; 
came to state and county in 1855; married July 4, i860, to 
Julia M. Briggs (deceased). Children, George E., Lucy, Har- 
riet and Thomas F. 

Somerville Forbes: lives on Althouse creek; is a miner; 
post-office, Althouse; was born on an English vessel off the 
coast of England; came to state in 1870 and to county in 1872. 

John Goings: lives on Illinois river; is a farmer; post- 
office, Kerbyville; born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1837; came to 
state in 1852 and to county in 1854; married first time, July, 
1858, to Phebe Goodwin (deceased); second time in 1866 to 
Mary Yarbrough. Children, Sarah J., Amanda E., John G., 
Alice (deceased), James T. (deceased), Serelda J. (deceased), 
Mary E. (deceased) and George F. 

Lewis Hayes: lives on Applegate: is a farmer; post-office, 
Murphy; was born in Cuyhoga county, Ohio; came to state 
in 1852; to county in 1865; was married October 18, '853, to 
Charlotte Abbott. Children, Rachel, Nancy E., Francis M., 
Jefferson, Joanna, David O. Samuel (deceased), William L. 
and Ira E. 

O. D. HoxiE: Died on Bear creek January, 1876,; was 
born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, in 1806; went to Jackson 
county, in 1852; married in 1825, to Eliza Stevens. Children, 
Joseph, Hannah, George W., James M., Charles H, Obe- 
diah and Abram. 

Dr. D. S. Holton: lives in Kerbyville: is a physician; 
was born in Monroe county, New York, in 1829; came to 
state in September, 1852; to county in 1863; married Sep- 
tember, 1852, to Nancy M. Pea (deceased 1863). Children, 
Josie (Nickerson), James D. and Ira E. Dr. Holton was 
assistant surgeon 1st Oregon cavalry, in I861; was elected 
senator from Josephine county in i860: was a member of the 
Oregon territorial legislature of 1858. 

Daniel Hunt: lives on Illinois river; is a farmer and 
carpenter; post-office, Kerbyville; was born in 1827; came to 
state and county in 1858. 

Charles Hughes: lives in Kerbyville; has been clerk of 
county twelve years; was born in County Armagh, Ireland; 
came to state in 1864; to county in 1866; married August 
14, 1842, to Margaret Hughes. Children, Alice J., Charles, 
James, Mary A. and Florence M. Mr. Hughes is one of the 
most prominent men in the county. 

James Hughes: lives in Kerbyville; is a liquor dealer; was 
born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1849; came to state in 1864, and 
to county in 1866; married August; 1873, to Lizzie E. Baine. 
Children, Margaret E. , Rosetta A. and James W. 

Alex M. Jess: lives on Applegate creek, near Wilderville; 
is a farmer; was born in Oneida county, New York; came to 
state and county in 1854; was married April, 1864, to Martha 
Moore. Children, Belle, Sherman, Alexander, Willie, Lot- 
tie and Malvina. 

Alex N. Jones: lives at Wilderville; is hotel keeper and 
post master; was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1830; came 
to State in 1867, and to county in 1880; married September 1, 
1867, to Hannah Hoxie. One child, Edwina. 

Henry Kelley: lives on Sucker creek; is a farmer; post- 
office, Kerbyville; was born in Morris county, N. J. ; came 
to state and county in 1852; was married December, 1870, 
to Sarah E. Bowman. Children, Charles and Edwin. 

J. I. Knight: died February 9, 1884. at his residence and 
hotel on Slate creek; was born in New York in 1830; came to 
state and county in 1871; was married September 25, 1867, to 
Louisa Austin. Children, Ida M. (deceased), Frank E., Jen- 
nie M. and May. Mrs. Knight is conducting the hotel. 

John T. Layton: lives on Applegate; owner of Faris 
Gulch mines; post-office, Applegate; was born in Lincoln- 
shire, England; came to state in 1851, and to county in 1852; 
has followed trading and mining since 1 851 in Jackson and 
Josephine counties. 



APPENDIX. 



509 



GEORGE W. Lewis: lives on Applegate; is a fruit and 
vegetable grower; post-office, Murphy; was born in Linn 
county. Mo., 1S42; came to state in 1S52, and to county in 
1S7S; married .Mary C. Sears, August, 1S65. Children, Wil- 
liam II. (deceased), Harry L., Viola, May and James. 

Georiu: S. MATHEWSON: lives on Sucker creek; is a 
farmer; post-office, Kerbyville; was born in Wayne county, 
New York; came to state and county in 1S55; married, De- 
cember 7, 1S69, to Sarah Hatcher. Children, Harriet E., 
Annie E. (deceased), and George. Mr. Mathevvson is one of 
Josephine's largest land owners. 

JOSEPH S. McFADDEN: lives on Applegate; is a farmer; 
post-office, Murphy; was born in Fairfield county, Ohio; 
came to state in 1S72, and to county in 1876; married June 
3. 1SS0, to Kate Kubli. Children, James and Joseph. 

James Neely: lives on Jump-off-Joe creek; is a farmer 
and stock raiser; post-office, Grant's Pass; was born in Mor- 
gan county, Mo., 1837; came to state in 1854 and to county 
in 1S55: married, July ,5 1877, to Elizabeth Gibson. Chil- 
dren, Florence M., Evert A. and Edward C. 

Lawrence E. Nelson: lives on Althouse creek; is a 
miner; was born in Calmer, Sweden; came to state and county 
in 1S70. 

William M. Miller: lives on Applegate creek; is a 
farmer; post-office, Applegate; was born in Galoway county, 
Mo., in 1829; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1855; 
w : as married January 15, 1854, to Mary A. Miller (deceased 
July 29, 1880). Children, Corilda, Frederick, John, Lewis, 
Francis, Sarah, Viretta, Arininta, Nancy, Mollie and Wil- 
liam E. 

Peter Miller: lives on Sucker creek; is a sawyer; post- 
office, Kerbyville; was born in Morgan county, Ohio; came 
to state and county in 1856. 

James P. Mills: lives on Deer creek; is a farmer; post- 
office, Kerbyville; is a native of New York; came to state 
and county in 1857. 

Frank M. Nickerson: lives in Kerbyville; is county 
clerk; was born in Litchfield, Medina county, Ohio; came to 
state in 1876; married, December 24, 1878, to Josie A. Hol- 
ton. Children, Sherman L. , Frank and Earl D. 

T. G. Patterson: lives on Sucker creek; is a farmer and 
teamster; post-office, Kerbyville; born in Howard county, 
Mo.; came to state and county in 1867; married, July 3, 1876, 
to Jessie Fiester. Only child, Edward D., died February, 1884. 

William Pernoll: lives on Applegate; is a merchant and 
farmer; post-office, Applegate; was born in Hamburg, Ger- 
many; married, July 8, 1876, to Nancy Miller. Children, 
John W., Martin V., Lillie H. and infant. 

A. H. Platter: lives at Alehouse on Democrat gulch; post 
office Althouse; is a miner: was born in Miama county, Ohio; 
came to state in 1852 and to county in 1854. 

M. Ryder: lives in Kerbyville; is sheriff of Josephine 



county; also hotel proprietor; was born in New York city; 
married, March 3, 1873, to Mrs. Elenor Lind. Children, 
Mary S., Elenor and Ralph. Mrs. Lind had three children at 
time of last marriage, Elmer, Florence and Alfred. 

George Simmons: lives at Waldo; is proprietor of mine; 
born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1832; came to state and 
county in 1855, married, June, 1859, to Jane Kevenaugh; 
Only child, Ella. 

Henry Smith: lives at Wolf creek; is a merchant, came 
to California in 1850, to state in 1853 and to county in 1858; 
was born December 7, 1820, in Wyoming valley, Luzerne 
county, Penn. ; was married in 1844 to Phoebe Smith. Mr. 
Smith is a large land owner, having 1,800 acres. 

Dr. James Spence: lives on Sucker creek; is a physician; 
post-office, Kerbyville; was born in Yorkshire, England; came 
to the state and county in 1874; married, May, 1874, to Su- 
sannah Higgins. Children, Mary A., Laura E. and Eva L. 
(deceased), James C. and William C, living. 

Henry Thornton: lives at Fort Hays; is a farmer and 
stock grower; post office Kerbyville; was born at LaFayette 
Ind., 183;"; came to state in 1853, and to county in 1874; 

James Turner: lives on Sucker creek; is a miner and 
blacksmith; post office is Althouse; was born in Buckingham 
county, Virginia; came to state in 1851, and to county in 1853. 
married June 25, 1865, to Fenie Haines. Children, Charles 
H., Kate S., George L., Fred L., John W. and Alice F. 
Mr. Thornton was first treasurer of Umpqua county. 

L, Vance: lives at Wilderville; is a merchant; post office 
Wilderville; was born in Todd county, Ky. ; came to state in 
1865, and to county in 1869. 

Alexander White: lives on Sucker creek; is a farmer; 
post office Kerbyville; was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan; 
came to state in 1852, and to county in 1855; was married 
October 29, 1877, to Sarah E. Tycer. Children, May, 
Fredrick C. (deceased), and William R. 

Samuel W. White: lives on Sucker creek; is a farmer; 
post office Kerbyville; was born in Livingston county, N. Y., in 
1812; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1854; married 
November 5, 1837, to Cynthia Corbus. Children, Job 
(deceased), Alexander, Janett, Hariett A. and James R. 

Jacob Wimer: lives on Applegate creek; is a miller and 
proprietor of a mine; post office Murphy; was born in Hunt- 
ington county, Penn., 1816; came to state in 1863, and to 
county in 1867; married July 16, 1835, to Catherine Markle. 
Children, Mary A., Adam A., George W., Catherine, Wil- 
liam J., J. Henry (deceased) and James A. 

Henry York: lives on Applegate creek; is a farmer and 
stock grower; post office Applegate; was born in Clay county, 
Ky., in 1834; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1854; 
was married July 4, 1862, to Sarah E. Slagle. Children, 
William B., Martha A., Ida, Albert S., Joseph S. Emily, 
Alice (deceased), Francis M., Bertha M. (deceased) and Jacob. 



DOUGLAS COUNTY. 



Henry A. Adams: lives on Missouri bottom; post-office, 
Myrtle creek; is a farmer and stock grower; came to the state 
in 1850 and to the county in 1851; was born in Blunt county, 
Tenn., August 29, 1828; was married October 22, 1854, to 
Jestean Wright; was again married, April 6, 1880, to Mrs. 
Jane Cornutt. 

Mrs. Serrena Adams: was born in Park county, Indiana, 
March 4, 1840; crossed the plains with her father, John 
Sutherlin, in 1850; was married to Mack Adams in 1852, be- 
ing only twelve years old; lives on South Deer creek, nine 
miles east of Roseburg; post-office, Roseburg. 

William S. Adams: lives eight miles south of Roseburg 
on Robert's creek; post-office, Roseburg; was born in Doug- 
las county, Oregon, June 31, 1853; is a farmer and stock 
raiser; formerly engaged in teaching school; was married to 
Sarah Willis, April 11, 1880. 

SOLOMON Ady: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in 1859; was born September 19, 
1826, in Jefferson county, Kentucky; married, October 26, 
1862, to Mary J. Ireland. 

John Aiken: lives in Salem, Marion county, Oregon; is a 
farmer; came to state in 1847 and to county in 1849; was 
born in Smith county, Tenn., in 1861. 

Albert Applegate: one of the earliest Oregon born citi- 
zens; was born at the "Old Mission " near Salem, December 



6, 1843; ' s a farmer; lives near Drain; came to Douglas 
county in 1850; married Nancy J. Johnson, February 17, 
1869. Children, Mercy D., Nellie M., Grant, Charles W., 
Lulu B. and Lucy I. 

Enoch P. Anderson: lives on Deer creek; is a fanner 
post-office; Roseburg; was born near Fayetteville, Ark., April 
19, 1845; came to state and county in 1853. 

Thos. Applegate: lives near Yoncalla; is a farmer and 
saw mill proprietor; was born in Polk county, Oregon, Aug- 
ust 21, 1847; was married to Hortense Reed, September 24, 
1875. Children, Agnes, Carl, Beatrice and infant. 

John Applegate: lives near Yoncalla; came to Oregon in 
1843 and to county in 1850; was born March 12, 1842, in St. 
Clair county, Mo. ; was married to Miss Laura Bridges. Chil- 
dren, Annie, Lola, Bertha and Charles. 

Milton Applegate: lives at Yoncalla; is a farmer; was 
born in Douglas county in 1854; was married, February 17, 
1872, to Sarah M. Tracy. Children, Adalaine, Arita and 
infant. 

Francis Archambeau: lives in French settlement; post- 
office, Looking-glass; is a farmer and stock grower; was born 
in Canada, December 17, 1823; came to state in 1847 and to 
county in 1851; was married, December 28, 1850, to Joseph- 
ine Birden. 

J. T. Arant: lives in French settlement; is a farmer and 



510 



APPENDIX. 



stock grower; was born April 19, 1823, in Davison county, 
Tenn. ; came to coast in 1802 and to county in 1853; was 
married in 1844 to Mary J. Emmitt. Children, eight boys and 
four girls; deceased, three boys and two girls. 

Vincent L. Arrington: lives en Civil Bend on Umpqua 
river; is a merchant and post-master; was born September 12, 
1845, in De Kalb county, Mo.; came to coast in 185 1 and to 
county in 1852; married, April 22, 1877, to Miss Sidna C. 
Anderson. 

James M. Arrington: lives in Civil Bend; was born in 
Livingston county, Ky. ; April 7, 1814; was married to Kittie 
A. Halpain, March 14, 1841; is a farmer and surveyor. 

Lewis Ash: lives on Cow creek; post-office, Canyonville; 
is a farmer; came to state in 1861 and to county in 1878; was 
born January 7, 1837, in Bedford county, Penn. ; married, 
September 3, 1875, t0 I c ' a Harmon. 

Thomas Banks: lives near Cinnabar mines; is a black- 
smith; post-office, Oakland; was born August 2, 1819, in 
Hawkins county, Tenn.; came to state and county in 1853; 
married August 28, 1850, to Catherine Davis. Children, Isa- 
bel, John and Sarah. 

Castillo Ball: lives in Roseburg; is a lawyer and editor 
and proprietor of Independent; was born in Jefferson county, 
Ohio, in 1848; came to coast in 1872, to state and county in 
J 876. 

J. R. Baldwin: lives on South Myitle creek; is a peddler: 
came to state and county in 1879; was born March 4, 1840, in 
Decatur county, Indiana; married Martha M. Ross, October 
6, 1866. 

Smith Bailey: is proprietor of the Eighteen-Mile House, 
on the Coos Bay wagon road, eighteen miles west of Rose- 
burg; was born in Ohio, in 1835; came to Oregon, in*i875, 
and to this county in 1882; is a farmer and stock grower; 
married P. N. Belieu, in 1855. 

Timothy Barnard: lives on Calapooia; post-office, Oak- 
land; is a iarmer and stock grower; was born in Jo Davies 
county, Illinois, May 10, 1830; came to state in 1850, and to 
county in 1851; was elected representative to the legislature 
in 1880: married to Margaret Harper October 20, i860. 
Children, Lillie D., Byron L. , Elmer E., James M., Cole D. 
and Elizabeth A. 

James H. Beane: lives on North Myrtle creek: is a stock 
grower; came to state in 1850, and to county in 1851; was 
born in Preble county, Ohio, November I, 1830; was mar- 
ried to Miss Harriet Wright, September 11, 1853. 

Wm. F. Benjamin: lives in Roseburg; is register of the U. 
S. land office; came to state and county in 1859; was born 
April 2, 1827. 

Charles Bealman: lives at Canyonville; is a stock 
grower; came to state and county in 1857; was born in Berne, 
Switzerland, in 1831. 

A. M. Beaty: lives on Cow creek; post-office, Riddle; is 
a farmer; came to state in 1858, and to county in 1866; was 
born January 12, 1837, in Champagne county, Ohio. 

Philip Benedict: lives at Roseburg; is an undertaker; 
came to state and county in 1874; was born January 1, 1838, 
in Harrison county, Ohio; was married to Elizabeth Bu- 
chanau. Children, Oscar N., Emma J., Cora L., Ida M. 
and James E. 

Louis Belfils: lives in Roseburg; is a watchmaker and 
dealer in variety goods, &c. ; is a native of France; came to 
America in 1854; to the state in 1856, and to the county in 
1872; was married April 1, 1859, to Miss F. M. Krieschbaum. 
"Was again married in 1872, to Miss Belle Dorr, who died in 
1875. Again married in 1876, to Miss Lizzie Matilda Shone. 
Is owner of valuable coal mines in Douglas county. 

Simpson Beckley: lives at Drain; is a hotel keeper; came 
to state and county in 1874; was born January 25, 1845, i n 
Indiana; was married to Mary M. Major. Children, Laura 
A., Sarah E., Major S., Eveline, Henry E., Ada L. and 
Edna. 

Frank W. Benson: lives in Roseburg; is present county 
school superintendent, and teacher by profession; came to 
state in 1864 and to county in 1880; was born in Santa Clara, 
Cal., March 20, 1858. 

Myron Bidwell: lives near Drain ; occupation cabinet 
maker and painter; was born in Ransom county, Ohio. August 
10, 1834; came to state in 1853; married to Ellen Bonner 
October 20, 1864. Children, William L., Emily A., Addie, 
Maggie J., John M., Nora and Irena A. 

James E. Blundell: lives on Cow creek; post-office. 



Canyonville; is a school teacher; came to slate in 1865, and 
to county in 187 1: was born May 7, 1843, in Bridgeport, Ct; 
married May 1, 1871, to Susan A. Thrush. 

Edward Bland: lives in Canyonville; was born Feb. 23, 
1864, in Douglas county, Oregon. 

Samuel P. Blakf.ly: lives on North Umpqua; is a 
farmer: post-office, Mt. Scott; was born in Wayne county, 
New York, August 24, 1831; came to state and county in 
1852; was married to Matilda Mallard, April 13, 1865. 

W. R. Blevins: lives in Canyonville; is a butcher and 
farmer; came to state in 1843, and to county in 1878; was born 
October 16, 1842, in Polk count}', Mo.; married September 
1, 1870, to Louisa Poteet. 

Oiey Boon: was born in Franklin county, Va., Dec. 9, 
1818; crossed the plains in 1849; came to Douglas county in 
1851; was married in 1862 to Cintha Parris; is a farmer and 
stock raiser, and owns a large farm nine miles southeast of 
Roseburg; post-office, Roseburg. 

John S. Bonebrake: resides on South Deer creek; is a 
farmer and stock grower; was born in Fountain county, Ind., 
in 1830; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1864. 

Isaac Boyl: resides near Canyonville; ,is a farmer; was 
born in Taswell county, Va., March 24, 1818; arrived in state 
and county in 1851; married to Phoebe Thrush December 15, 
1859. 

Daniel J. Bollenbaugh: lives near Canyonville; is a 
farmei and miner; came to state in 1852, and to county in 
1854; was born April 9, 1831, in Fairfield county, Ohio; 
married October 30, 1853, to Katherine Swartz. 

J. Brock: lives near Wilbur; is a farmer and stock raiser; 
was born in Madison county, Ohio, March 10, 1821; came to 
state and county in 1866; married to Delilah Baldwin, de- 
ceased, March 26, 1843. One child, Cowen B. Mr. Brock 
was again married March 10, 1866, to Eletha Ridenour. 
Has five children by second wife, Eliza, Lury and Lucy, twins, 
Daly and Ethel. 

John T. Bryan, Jr. : lives at Myrtle creek; is a jeweler; 
came to state and county in 1874; was born in Logan county, 
111., August 24, 1858. 

J. V. Bradley: lives at Nonpareil; is a farmer and stock 
grower; post-office, Oakland; born December 3, 1829, in Cal- 
oway county, Mo.; came to state and county in 1852; mar- 
ried March 22, 1857, to Miss Cynthia S. Tipton. Children, 
William D., Cynthia J., Rosa, Viola S., Benjamin L., James 
P., Ira R. and Lillie V. 

A. F. Brown: lives in Oakland; is a merchant and town 
proprietor; was born in Stratford, county, N. II., August 31, 
1836; came to state and county in 1859; married in Boston, 
November 9, 1854, to Miss Ada Lamkin. Children, Minnie 
A. (deceased), Edgar L. (deceased), Frederick A., William 
H., Charles H. and Joe H. 

Thomas Brown: lives 7 miles northwest of Roseburg; is 
a farmer and stock grower; was born March 25, 1812, near 
Elgin, Scotland; married Miss Sarah Flett. Children, James, 
George, Maria, John, Thomas, Frank, May and Agnes; came 
to state in 1847, and to county in 1851. 

Mrs. Nancy Browning: lives on North Myrtle creek; 
was born in Canton, Fulton countv, 111., February 19, 1834; 
was married January 24, 1853, to Dr. E. G. Browning; came 
to state in 1852 and to county in 1855. 

Rufus Butler: was born in Massachusetts in 1812; came 
to this coast in 1849; and arrived in this county in 1850; 
was married first time to Miss Henrietta Jones, and the sec- 
ond time, in 1853, to Miss Sarah Wells. Two children were 
born by his first wife, and eleven by his second wife. He died 
of paralysis November 9, 1883. 

Thomas B. Burnett: lives in Round Prairie, ten miles 
south of Roseburg; post-office, Roseburg; is a farmer and 
stock grower; was born in Douglas county, Oregon, Septem- 
ber 10, 1858. 

Leonard Buell: lives in Looking-glass valley; is a farmer 
and mail contractor; was born July 4, 1813, in Genessee 
county, New York; came to coast in 1849, to Oregon in 1852, 
and to county in 1854; married March 13, 1836, to Julia A. 
Giles. Children, four girls and eight boys; one son deceased. 

G. A. Burt: lives at Yoncalla; is a farmer and town pro- 
prietor; was born in Bristol county, Mass., in 1827; came to 
state and county in 1850; was married November 27, 1852, to 
Ellen Applegate. Children, Perit H., John, Henry, Fosco, 
Lucy and Sue. 

James D. Burnett: lives on Round Prairie; is a farmer 



APPENDIX. 



511 



and stock raiser; came to state in 1850, and to county in 1852; 
was born March 12, 1822, in Blunt county, Term.; was mar- 
ried to Margaret Love. Children, Martha (deceased), Fran- 
cis (deceased), Mary, I.ydia, Thomas B.. Lucy and Virginia C. 
(deceased). 

D. S. K. BlJICK: lives at Mvnle Creek; is a hotel keeper; 
came to state in 1872, and to county in 1876; was born in 
Scotland, in 1827; married Janet Brown, July 9, 1S52. 

Linus Bushnell: lives on Ten-Mile creek; post-office, 
Ten-Mile; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1854: was 
born in Greene county, New York, March 23, 1815; was 
married October 12, 1 842. 

James Byron: lives on South Ten-Mile creek; post-office, 
Ollala; is a farmer; came to state and county in 1868; was 
born October 18, 1S3S, in Ireland; was married to Mary 
Cloake, January 26, 1 87 1. 

0. K. P. Cain: lives on Cow creek; post-office, Riddle; 
is a miner; was born November 29, 1821, in Niagara county, 
New York; married Cyntha J. Nichols, March 15, 1858; 
came to state in 185 1 and to county in 1873. 

Georce J. Callahan: lives in French settlement; post- 
office, Looking-glass; is a farmer; was born in Boone county, 
Mo., May 7, 1828; was married to Sophronia Holmes, No- 
vember 29, 1853; came to county in 1864. 

John G. Cali.ison: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer; came to county in 1883; was born in Lane county, 
Oregon, August 4, 1856; married Annie Lewis, November 
30, 1882. 

VV. K. Caldwell: lives in Cole's valley; is a carpenter; 
came to this coast in 1850, to state in 1859 and to county in 
1868; was born in Paris. Bourbon county, Ky., August 22, 
1831; was married to Ella Perkins. Children, Alwilda E. 
(deceased), Horace (deceased), Edgar M. (deceased), Robert 
E., Ida M. and William B. 

W. H. Caldwell: lives in Canyonville; is a farmer and 
butcher; came to state in 1857 and to county in 1867; was 
born February 17, 1849, in Andrew county, Mo. ; married. Oc- 
tober 25, 1877, to Martha A. Jennings. 

John Canady: lives in Oakland; is a farmer; was born 
September 13, 1841, in Ohio; came to state in 1852 and to 
county in 1854. 

C. D. Cary: lives in Camas valley; came to state in 1865 
and to county in 1874; was born in Madison county, Iowa, 
July 7, 1854. 

Joseph W. Carlon: lives in Roseburg; is proprietor of 
lively stable; came to state in i860, and to county in 1864; 
was born July 12, 1837, in Lawrence county, Penn. ; was 
married to Nancy Stevenson. Children, Hannah, Ernest, 
William E., Joseph R., Belle and Bertha. 

John H. Carter: lives in Looking-glass valley; is a 
farmer; was born July 30, 1830, in Washington county, East 
Tenn.; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1859; married 
February 22, 1852, to Eveline Etherton. 

Samuel Casebeer: was born June 8, 1824, in Wayne 
county, Ohio; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1853; 
was married to Jemima Brown, October 26, 1847; was a 
farmer; lived in French settlement, where he died in 1870. 

John L. Casebeer: lives in French settlement; post-office, 
Roseburg; is a teacher and farmer; was born February 22, 
1862, in Douglas county, Oregon. 

John Catching: lives on Cow creek; post-office, Riddle; 
is a farmer and miner; came to state in 1845 anc ' to county in 
1851; was born September 18, 1820, in Kentucky; was mar- 
ried May 9, 1847, to Margaret Wilson. 

R. L. Cavett: lives seventeen miles east of Roseburg; 
post-office, Roseburg; is a stock raiser; came to state in 1858 
and to county in 1859; was born in Tennessee in 1836. 

James F. Chadwick: lives near Wilbur; is a farmer; came 
to state and county in 1879; was born in England, April 7, 
1837; married in 1868 to Agnes Foran. One child. 

Joseph Champagne: livesin French settlement; is a farm- 
er; was born August 10, 1825, in Eastern Canada; came to 
state and connty in 1851; married, February 27, 1857, to Ann 
E. Ridenour. 

A. E. Champagne: lives in Roseburg; is proprietor of 
Cosmopolitan hotel; was born June 15, 1836, near Montreal, 
Canada; was married to Nancy R. Bradley; came io state 
and county in 1867. 

William R. Chenoweth: lives six miles northeast of 
Roseburg; is a farmer and gardener; was born, August 2, 
1826, in Pike county, Ohio; married, May 29, 1853, to Maria 



McKinney. Children, Joseph and James (deceased). 
Came to state in 1850 and to county in 1852. 

James Chenoweth: lives in Oakland; is a merchant; was 
born in De Kalb county, Missouri, September 22, 1850; came 
to state in 1852 and to county in 1853; was elected to the 
legislature in 1878. 

Joseph L. Churchill: lives in Cole's valley; is a fanner; 
and stock raiser; post-office, Umpqua Ferry; was born in 
Columbia county, New York, in 1840; came to state and 
county in 1866; married Miss Willia A. Emmitt, June 1, 
1873. Only child, Frank. 

[esse Clayton: lives on Calapooia; is a farmer and stock 
raiser; post-office, Oakland; was born, October 16, 1828, in 
Perry county, Ohio; came to state in 1847; was in Cayuse 
war; married Mrs. L. E. Heckathorn, August 10, 1869. 
Children, Lizzie, Susie, Jesse R., Franklin and Maud. 

Thomas Coats: lives on Ten-mile creek; post-office, Ten- 
mile; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1853; was born 
in Louisville, St. Lawrence county, New York, September 3, 
1823; married Caroline Carter, December 3, 1851. 

C. F. Colyin: lives near Drain; is a lumberman and stock 
grower; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1858; married 
Caroline Zufult, January, 1843. Children, Lydia F., Wil- 
liam F. and Sarah J. (deceased). 

Joseph ComelisoN: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer and stock grower; came to state in 1850 and to county 
in 1853; was born July 10, 1829, in Coffee county, Tenn.; 
married, May, 1851, to Mary J. Adams. 

A. W. ComptoN: livesin Roseburg; was born October 10, 
1829, in Maryland; came to this coast in 1848, to state in 
1849 and to county in 1865; Mrs. Compton has a dress-mak- 
ing establishment in Roseburg. 

Henry' Conn, Sr: lives in French settlement six miles 
west of Roseburg; is a farmer and breeder of fine stock; was 
born October 12, 1816, in Lycoming county, Penn.; came to 
state and county in 1854; was married, February 28, I838, to 
Mary J. Stnltz. 

Plinn Cooper: lives six miles south of Roseburg; post- 
office, Roseburg; is a farmer and stock raiser; was born in 
Essex county, New York. December 19, 1836; came to state 
and county in 1857; was married to Hannah E. Kelly in i860. 

James Cox: lives eight miles east of Roseburg; is a farmer 
and stock grower; post-office, Roseburg; was born in Whitley 
county, Ky., March 21, 1815; came to state in 1852 and to 
county in 1853. 

Noah Cornutt: lives in Riddle; is a farmer and stock 
grower; came to state in 1853 and to county in i860; was 
born February, 5, 1836, in Grayson county, Virginia. 

Augustus O. Coston: lives in Looking-glass valley, one 
mile northeast of the village; post-office, Looking-glass; is a 
farmer; was born in Chenango county, New York, in 1844; 
came to state in 1852 and to county in 1857; married, April 
2, 1871, to Miss Fannie Marvin. 

T. J Criteser: livesin Roseburg; is proprietor of flour- 
ing mills; came to state and county in 1863; was born in 
Marion county, Indiana, January 25, 1845; ' s married. Chil- 
dren, Lottie, Walter, Thomas and Lillie. 

Francis M. Criteser: lives in French settlement, ten 
miles west of Roseburg; is a farmer; was born March 13, 1840, 
in Fulton county, Ind,; came to this coast in 1854 and to 
county in 1866; married, June, 1859, to Mary Spray. Chil- 
dren, six boys and one girl; one son deceased. 

William P. Day: lives in Camas valley; is a farmer and 
stock grower; came to state in 1845, and to county in 1851; 
was born at Fort Edward, Washington county, N. Y., August 
26, 1822; was married in 1851, to Phebe Culver, the family of 
six children are all deceased. 

Michael Dean: lives on Cow creek; post office is Riddle; 
is a farmer; came to state in 1865, and to county in 1866; was 
born December 10, 1833 in Jackson county, Mo.; was married 
February 3, 1858, to Margaret Dyer. 

W. H. B. Deardoff: lives on Camas swale; is a farmer 
and stock grower; post office Oakland; was born March 28, 
1828, in Union county, Ind.; came to state and county in 
1853; was married March 20, 1853, to Georgia A. Harl. 
Children, Albert G., Josephine, Marcena, Isabella, Horace, 
John W. and Katie. 

George Dement: lives on Myrtle creek; is a farmer; came 
to state and county in 1858; was born February 2, 1835, ' n 
Randolph, 111.; was married June 10, 1S65, io Elizabeth 
Weaver. 



512 



APPENDIX. 



James M. Dillard: lives in Civil Bend on Umpqua river; 
is a farmer and stock grower; was born September 14, 1842, 
in Greene county, Mo.; came to state in 1850, and to county 
in 1 851; married April 17, 1864, to Mary E. Cox. 

John Dillard: lives at Dillard station; post office Rose- 
burg; is a farmer and stock grower; born August 16, 1813 in 
Knox county, Ky. ; came to state in 1850, and to county in 
1852; was married January 22, 1832, to Jane Martin. 

Raphael B. Dixon : lives on Deer creek, eight miles east 
of Roseburg; is a farmer and stock grower; post office Rose- 
burg; was born in Andrew county, Mo., November 12, 1847; 
crossed the plains in 1852, and came to this county in 1853; 
married to Miss Nancy M. Livingston, May 1873. 

William G. B. Dixon: lives north of Roseburg; is a stock 
grower; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1853; was 
born in Fulton county, 111., August 22, 1844; married Septem- 
ber 12, 1878. 

Samuel H. Dodson: lives twelve miles southeast of 
Roseburg; post office Roseburg; is a farmer and stock raiser; 
was born in Missouri, December 21, 1849: came to state and 
county in 1852; was married to Martha Hervey, November 
29, 1877. 

\V. B. Drake: lives on Myrtle creek, and runs an express; 
came to state and county in 1875; was born in Penn., February 
22, 1831; married December 6, 1866, to Mrs. Francis Ritchey. 

William P. Dunham: lives on Deer creek; is a stock 
raiser; post office Roseburg; was born in Warren county, Mo., 
September 16, 1847; came to state in 1864, and to county in 
1865. 

H. Dyer: lives at Myrtle creek; is a merchant; was born 
in Douglas county. Or., May 7, 1856. 

Jefferson Dyer: lives on Cow creek; post office is Riddle; 
is a farmer; came to state in 1865, and to county in 1866; was' 
born March 18, 1818, in White county, Tenn. ; married 
November 6, 1842, to Mrs. Jane Lovelady. 

Moses T. Dyer: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in 1852; was born March 14, 1819, 
in Madison county, Vermont; was married December 1848, to 
Sarah Ross. 

Hardy Elliff: lives eleven miles south of Canyonville: 
post office Galesville; is the largest farmer and land owner in 
the county having 3640 acres of land; was born December 7, 
1822, in Sumner county, Tenn. ; came to California in 1849, 
and to state and county in 185 1. Mr. Elliff was the first 
settler in Cow creek valley, July 2, 1852. 

Joseph Ensley: lives on Calapooia; is a farmer and stock 
grower; post office Oakland; was born in Montgomery county, 
Ohio, April 20, 1824; came to state in 1852, and to county in 
1855; married May 14, 1844, to Eliza A. Knutt. Children, 
Samuel, Rosa J., Henry, Abram, Sarah, Aleck, James, John 
and Washington. William, Grant, Susana, Joseph and 
Christopher are deceased. 

Allen A. Engles: resides on the east fork of the North 
Umpqua river; is a farmer and stock raiser; post office Patter- 
son's Mill; was born in Independence county, Arkansas, March 
4, 1832; arrived in state and county in 1853; married Char- 
lotte Simmons July 11, 1858, who lived only a short time, and 
was married a second time to Mary McDonal, October 3, 1861, 
who, also, has since died. 

Edwin A. Estes: lives in Drain; has a variety store and is 
postmaster, and agent for Wells, Fargo & Co's. express; was 
born in Lee county, Iowa, August 13, 1846; came to Oregon 
in 1S50, and to county in 1852; was married to Flora Clark 
June4, 1874. Children, Ed win, William G., Lenora and infant. 

P. G. Eubanks: lives at Camas swale; is a farmer and 
stock grower; post office Oakland; came to state in 1852, and 
ito county in 1854; was born in Cooper county, Mo., Septem- 
ber 26, 1838; was married to Sarilda Young (deceased), Octo- 
ber 1862, by whom, had two children. Was again married 
January 1877, to Polly Sutherlin who had three children, all 
deceased. 

S. D. Evans, Sr. : formerly of Cole's valley; was born in 
Madison county, Ohio; arrived in this state and county in 1853; 
was married March 2, 1851, to Louisa A. Thompson; S. D. 
Evans, Jr., their only child was born November 6, 1861; Mr. 
Evans was killed by Indians August I, 1861, in Northern Cal- 
ifornia. 

Samuel D. Evans, Jr. : lives at Umpqua Ferry in Cole's 
valley; post office Umpqua Ferry; is a farmer; came to state 
and county in 1863; was born in Washoe county, Nevada, 
November 6, 1861. 



David Fate: resides on Day's creek, near Canyonville; 
is a farmer; was born in Perry county, Ohio, July, 1823; 
came to this state in 1852 and to county in 1853; married 
Mary A. Ward in Ohio, September 15, 1850. 

Joshua Fawcett: lives on North Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer and miner; came to state and county in 1868; was born 
August 3, 1833, in Gallia county, Ohio; was married March 
24, 1864 to Mrs. Nancy C. Sharp. 

William Ferguson: lives in Camas valley; post-office, 
Camas valley; is a saw mill proprietor; came to state and 
county in 1879; was born in Canada in 1835. 

George B. Finch: lives on South Deer creek; was born 
in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1820; is a farmer; came to 
state in 1845 an d to county in 1850. 

Adam Fisher: lives near Winchester; post-office, Rose- 
burg; is a iarmer and stock raiser; came to state in 1870 and 
to county in 1871; was born February 15, 1841, in Bavaria, 
Germany; married Melissa Jones. Children, Emma, Ellen, 
Chester and infant. 

John Fisher: lives on Ten-Mile creek; post-office, Olalla; 
is a farmer; was born May 22, 1828, in Germany; came to 
state and county in 1855. 

Judge J. S. Fitzhugh: lives in Roseburg; is a mer- 
chant; was born August 27, 1833, in Morgan county, Illinois; 
was married to Mary J. Flowers. Children, Joseph S., Sam- 
uel E. and Clinton C. Came to state and county in 1857. 

Fred Floed: was born at Winchester, Douglas county, 
1859; is a merchant; is a son of the late Creed Floed, of 
Roseburg. 

Ferdinand Fortin: was born in Quebec, Canada; came 
to state and county in 1855; was married to Mary Ridenour 
October 12, i860; lives in Cole's valley; is a farmer; post- 
office, Umpqua Ferry. Children, Josephine (deceased), Timothy 
R., Louis S., Margaret A. (deceased), Harvey B. (deceased), 
and Ferdinand. 

Hon. James C. Fullerton: lives in Roseburg; is re- 
ceiver of land office; was born December 16, 1848, in Butler 
county, Ohio; came to state and county in 1853; was married 
in 1874 to Miss Clara Bunnell, of Roseburg. One child. 

F. M. Gabbert: lives at Myrtle creek; is a merchant; came 
to state in 1855, and to county in 1858; was born in Cham- 
pagne county, 111., January 14, 1832; married Miss Louisa 
Browning in December, 1855. 

Crawford Gaddis: lives in Roseburg; was born in Daven- 
port, Delaware county, New York, in 1824; came to state in 
1852, and to this county in 1868; was married October 24, 
1861, to Miss S. A. Imbler. Children, Cassius, Winfield C, 
Echo, Clyde and E. C. Mr. Gaddis filled the position of 
county judge and treasurer, for several terms. 

T. C. Gaunt: lives in Canyonville; is a saloon keeper; 
born in Hopkins county, Kentucky, January 29, 1830; arrived 
in state and county in 1865; married Elizabeth Wright, April 
4, 1871. 

James P. Gilmore: lives nine miles south east of Roseburg; 
post-office Roseburg; was born in Clay county, Mo., April 13, 
1830; was married to Nancy Barnes in 1851; settled in Doug- 
las county in 1852. 

Francis M. Good: was born in Lee county, Va., January 
24, 1831; came to state and county in 1853; was married to 
Caroline Pierce, September 12, ) 860; lives at Cleveland; is 
the postmaster, merchant and miller at that place. Children, 
Mary A. (deceased), Nellie J., Martha, Edna, AddieL, Carrie 
A., Francis O. and Daniel Garfield. 

Jeptha Green: lives four miles south of Roseburg, on 
Umpqua river; is a farmer and stock raiser; came to state in 
1852, and to county in 1853; was born in 1828, in Richland 
county, Ohio. Children, Ollie F., Ellis M. (deceased), Rosa 
B., Robert and Roscoe N. 

Jesse Gross: lives at Drain; occupation wagon maker; born 
March 8, 1830, in Randolph county, Virginia; came to Oregon 
in 1874, and to Douglas county in 1883; was married to Miss 
Ellender Gates, September 9, 1852. 

Benjamin J. Grubbe: lives in Wilbur; was born in Wash- 
ington county, Virginia, November 26, 1815; came to state 
and county in 1850; married Elizabeth Legget (deceased), 
March 13, 1835. Children, Melissa J., Charlotte, Sarah A., 
George W., William, James B., Angeline, QuincyA., 
Emma (deceased), Luetta, Jeptha and Luella. Mr. Grubbe 
was again married January 17, 1871, to Mrs. Rachel Reed. 
One child, Minnie. . 

George V. Gurney': lives on Ten-mile creek; post-office, 



APPENDIX. 



513 



Ten-mile; is a lumberman; came to state and county in 1S5S; 
was born in Lee county, Iowa, December 22, 1S51 ; was mar- 
ried January I, 1S76, to Jane Fisher. 

James W. GURNEY: lives on Ten-mile; post-office, Ten- 
mile. 

CHARLES M. Hall: lives in Oakland; is a tinner; was 
born in Stark county, 111.. March 4, 1850; came to state in 
1S53 and to county in 1S54; married December 19, 1875, 
Sarah M. Barr. Children. Carrie and William. 

John Hall: lives on Myrtle creek; is a farmer; came to 
state and county in 1859; was born October 3, 1837, in 
Champagne county, Ohio; married Susana Weaver, October 
17, 1862. 

R.OBKRT HANEY: lives near Eikton; is a farmer and stock- 
raiser: was born September 12, 1833, in Chester county, 
Penn. ; came to state and county in 1874; married Mary A. 
Davis. Children. Julia A.. George W. (deceased), Charles 
B., Oliver P. (deceased), Fred T. (deceased), John E., Min- 
nie B. and Nettie M. 

George Hanan: died on his farm near Roseburg, May 
1878; was a boot and shoe maker; was born in city of Cork, 
Ireland, May 8, 1822; came to coast in 1844 and to county in 
1852. His widow, Eliza J. Hanan, resides on farm; post-of- 
fice, Wilbur; was born in New York city, March 31, 1S29; 
came to state in 1844 and to county in 1852. 

W ILI.IAM K. HANNA: lives in Oakland; is a stock grower 
and butcher; came to state and county in 1853; was born 
March 8, 1838, in Monitor county, Mo; married November 
8, 1868, to Lucy M. Smith. Children, Eliza M., Robert K., 
Henrietta V., Carl F., Stella and infant. 

Thomas Hancock: lives near Eikton; post-office, Eikton; 
is a farmer and stock grower; came to state and county in 
1S50; was born in Australia in 1842. 

James H. HarphaM: lives on Deer creek; is a stock 
raiser and school teacher; post-office, Roseburg; was born in 
Oregon city, Ogle county, 111., in 1847; came to state and 
county in 1863. 

Albert W. Hart: lives in Drain; is an engineer; was 
born in Onandago county, New York, July 3, 1845; came to 
state and county in 1874; married March 12, 1865, to Mary 
A. Conway. One child, Rosa B. 

John H. Harti.n: lives on Looking-glass creek; post- 
office, Civil Bend; is a farmer; was born June 30, 1829, in 
Lincoln county, Tenn.; came to state in 1850 and to county 
in 1853; married Miss Mary Flournoy, September 25, 1856. 
Children, four. 

Job Hatfield: lives near Scottsburg; is a farmer; was 
born August 31, 1813, in Nova Scotia; came to state in 1849 
and to county in 1850. 

William S. Hervev: lives on Clark's Branch; is a farmer 
and stock grower; came to state in 1864 and to county in 
1865; was born in Greene county, Tenn., July 3, 1833; mar- 
ried November 20, 1856, to Miss H. Bowman. 

J. P. HERVEY: lives on Clark's Branch; post-office, Myrtle 
creek; is a farmer and stock grower; came to state in 1864 
and to county in 1865. 

N. Herington": lives near Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state in 1879 and to county in 1880; was born in Yan 
Buren county, Iowa, August 5, 1851; married Samantha L. 
Berry, June 6, 1880. 

John D. Hewitt: lives in Roseburg; is a photographer; 
came to stale and county in 1871; was born in Shelby county, 
Ind., April 28, 1845; married Flora B. Imbler, of Douglas 
county-. 

L. C. Hill: lives in Missouri bottom; post-office, Myrtle 
creek; is a farmer; came to state and county in 1863; was 
born in Scioto county, Ohio, November I, 1838; married 
Nancy A. Glaze, January, 1878. 

Flemming R. Hill: is a farmer and stock grower; was 
born in Overton county, Tenn., October 17, 1824; came to 
state in 1844; was in Cayuse war; came to county in 1851; 
was sheriff; has been hotel keeper since 1856; married Miss 
Delinda Reed March, 1 853. Children, Mary A. and Fannie. 

John T. Hinkle: lives ten miles east of Roseburg on 
Deer creek; is a farmer and stock grower; post-office, Rose- 
burg; was born in Perry county, Mo., July 29, 1837; was 
married to Sarah P. McNeal in 1861; came to state in 1852 
and to county in 1855. 

Jesse M. Hockett: lives on Garden bottom; is a farmer 
and school teacher; was born May 25, 184.5, in Henry county, 
Iowa: was educated at Willamette University; married Sarah 
66 



F. Booth, August 22, 1877. Children, Claud (latch, Clyde 
T., Guy an 1 Jesse \l. Mr. Hockett came to Oregon in 1847 
and to county in 1865. 

M. B. Holmes: lives in Camas valley; is a stock raiser; 
came to state and county in 1854; was born in Herkimer 
county, New York, January 8, 1824. 

Dr. G. W. Hoover: lives in Roseburg; is a physician; 
came to state in 1S50 and to county in 1858; was born Octo- 
ber 17, 1822, in Scott county, Kentucky; was married to 
Huldah E. Williams. Children, Mary E., Lawrence E., 
William H. (deceased), Rose E., G W. Jr., Clarence M., 
Clara S. and Elmer V. 

George Hoover: lives on Ten-mile creek; post-office, 
Olalla; is a farmer and stock grower; came to state and 
county in 1866; was born in Holmes county, Ohio, January 
2, 1832; married Eliza J. Peebles, December 20. 1853. 

John M. Howard: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer; came to state and county in 1880; was born October 
9, 1832, in Knox county, 111.; was married April 2, 1851, to 
Nancy A. Bonner. 

William Hutson: lives on Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in 1852; was born in Clay county, 
Mo., January 22, 1813; married April 7, 1844, to Louisa 
Crowley. 

James C. Hutchison: lives in Oakland; is a farmer and 
stock grower; came to state and county in 1839; was born 
October 10, 1835, in Henderson county, 111.; was married to 
Sarah Copeland. Children, Myrtle, Arthur, Lucy, James R. 
and Fred. 

John M. Hunt: lives at Nonpareil; post-office, Oakland; 
w r as born January 15, 1826, in Wayne county, Ind.; came to 
state and county in 1871; married Sarah A. Argabrite. Chil- 
dren, James L., Rebecca B., Arthur F., Charles H., George 
W., Jeptha V. and Herbert W. 

Nedom Imbler: lives in Roseburg; is a carpenter and 
wagon maker; was born July 16, 1820, in Rowan county, N. C; 
married October, 1831, to Margaret Jones; came to state and 
county in 1852. Children, J. W„ Sarah, Florence, Eddie, 
Warren C. and Alvis. 

J. M. Ingram: lives on South Deer creek; is a farmer; post 
office Roseburg; was born in Arkansas, December I, 1847; 
came to state and county in 1852; married Nancy McLaughlin 
September 24, 1871. 

Kenner B. Ireland: lives on Ten-mile, post office Olalla; 
is a farmer and stock grower. 

James D. Johnson: lives in Riddle; is a merchant; came 
to state and county in 1874; was born January 14, 1859, in 
Clay county, Missouri; was married December 20, 18S1, to 
Julia Ellenburg. 

Harvy Jones: lives five miles north west of Roseburg; is a 
farmer and stock grower; was born January 18, 1839: in Boone 
county, Ind.; came to county in 1852; married August 14, 
1S68, to Miss Mary A. Duta. 

Isaac Jones: lives in Roseburg; is a miller; came to state 
in 1852; was born October 22, 1816, in Morgan county, Ohio. 
Children, W. S., Nelson D., James O., Nicholas, Libbie, 
Clarinda, Sarah E. Annie E. and Etna. 

Tohn JoXES: lives near Roseburg, on Umpqua river; is a 
farmer and stock grower; was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, 
February 8, 1812; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1853; 
married in 1841, to Louisa Imbler. 

Lafayette Jones: is a carpenter and farmer; came to 
coast in 1853, to county and state in 1871; was born May 30, 
1833, in Boone county, Mo. ; was married to Mrs. Mary 
Hamilton, who at time of last marriage had three children, 
William, Allen and Margaret. 

John Kelly: lives five miles south of Roseburg; is a farmer; 
post office Roseburg; was born. in county Donnegal, Ireland in 
1842; arrived in this state and county in 1879. 

George W. Kimball: lives in Roseburg; is county clerk; 
was born in Orange count) 7 , New Hampshire, in 1847; came to 
state in 1859; was married in 1877, to Miss May Moore, who 
died three years later, their only child Maud died in March 
1884. 

Tames A. Kirkendall: lives in Camas valley; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in i860; was born in Grundy county, 
Mo., June 23, 1839; married Missouri Belieu, January 3, 1S64. 
W. Koamer: lives on'Myrtle creek; is a miller; came to state 
and county in 1877; was born in Wayne county, Ohio, May 
10, 1850. 

W. T. Krewson: lives in Drain; is a merchant; came to 



514 



APPENDIX. 



state and county in 1S66; was born in Licking county, Ohio, 
March 16, 1832; was married to Ann E. Miles. Children, 
Orrin, Lucy; George, Thomas, Hannah and Clara. 

G. J. KunS: lives on North Myrtle creek; is a farmer and 
miner; came to the state in 1852, and to county in 1853; was 
born in Carroll county, Ind., March 20, 1838; was married 
July 5, 1866, to Rebecca Holland (deceased), and again mar- 
ried April 2, 1876, to Minnie Mulkey. 

John Kuykendall: lives in Drain; is a carpenter; born 
April 14, 1820, in Vigo county, Ind.; came to state in 1852, 
and to county in 1853; married January 20, 1842, to Malinda 
Stark. 

Dr. William Kuykendall: lives at Drain; is a physician; 
was born at Wilbur, Douglas county, Oregon, March 1, 1855; 
was married May 18, 1876, to Miss M. A. Alysom; has four 
children. 

Elihu J. Kyes: lives in Looking-glass valley; address is 
Looking-glass; is a mill right; was born in Crawford county, 
Penn., in 1832; came to this state in 1857, and to county in 
1865; was married to Miss Jane Sneed, May 2, 1869. 

Henry Lander: lives south of Roseburgon Umpqua river; 
is a farmer and stock grower; post-office Roseburg; born Sep- 
tember 29, 1824, in Cornwall, England; came to coast in 1853, 
and to county in I860; married May 10, 1863, to Nancy E. 
Jones. 

E. E. Labrie: lives in Garden bottom; post-office Wilbur; 
is a farmer and stock raiser; is a native of Douglas county, was 
born September 4, 1858; married Miss Kate Bealejonly child, 
Ferdinand. 

Narcisse Laraut: lives in Garden bottom; is a farmer 
and stock grower; was born near St. Johns, Canada, May 7, 
1823; married March 1856, to Amy B. Rowley; came to state 
in 1850, and to county in 1851. Children, Jennie V., Clin- 
tona A., Steven A., Alva R., Narcisse, Charles T., Ida V., 
Leland, Ethel M. and Lucy. 

Louis Langenberg: lives at Roseburg; is a boot and shoe- 
maker, and dealer in boots, shoes, etc. ; was born in Hersfeld, 
Germany, in 1841; married Elizabeth Goetz, September 2, 
1866; came to state in 1870, and to this county in 1871. 
Children, Mary, Sophia, George, Daniel, LaFayette and 
Edmond. 

David Lenox: lives in Civil Bend, on Umpqua river; is a 
farmer; born March 24, 1835, m Schuyler county, III.; came 
to Oregon in 1843, to Douglas county in 1878; married first 
time in 1865, to Sarah I. Campbell; was again married in 1879, 
to M. A. Boslinger. 

John F. Lkyens: was born near Elkton, Douglas county, 
September 15, 1 852; is a grocery merchant; married Martha 
V. Snyder. Children, Imo J., Walter F. , Fannie A. and 
Guy W. 

Jacob Ledgerwood: lives on Roberts creek; post office 
Roseburg; is a farmer and stock grower; was born in Clay 
county, Mo., January 18, 1844; came to state in 1866, and to 
county in 1867. 

John Letsom: lives in Scotts valley; post-office Youcalla; 
occupation farmer and blacksmith; was born in England, 
March 13, 1828; came to the United States in 1845, to state 
and county in 1850; married Mrs. Sarah Lewis, August 10, 
1856. 

James H. Mahoney: lives in Oakland; was born in Boone 
county, Missouri, December 28, 1829; came to state in 1853 
and settled in Oakland in 1861; married July, 1866, to Mary 
Perdue. 

OrvilleA. Malton: lives near Drain; is a farmer; came 
to state in 1852 and to county in 1879; was born in La Grange 
county, Indiana, July 8, 1844; was married to Eliza Rhodes. 
Children, Orange, John, Angeline, Catherine, Hattie, Annie 
and Oscar. 

William Manning: lives in Canyonville; is a merchant. 

Ashf.r Marks: a pioneer merchant of Roseburg; was 
born in Poland; came to this coast in 1853 and came immedi- 
ately to this county and has been closely identified with the 
county affairs ever since; he has always withstocd the charms 
of the gentler sex and we find him yet a single man. 

S. Marks: lives in Canyonville; is a merchant and general 
speculator; was born in Poland; came to America in 1850, to 
California in 1852 and to Oregon in 1853. 

Albert A. Matthews: lives in Flournoy valley; is a 
merchant and farmer; was bom in Williston, Chittenden 
county, Vt., November 12, 1822; was married in 1859 to 
Alice B. Whisler: 



William McBee: lives six miles south of Roseburg on 
South Umpqua; is a farmer; was born September 11, 1842, 
in Ray county, Missouri; came to coast in 1852 and to county 
in 1857; married July 7, 1880, to Caroline A. Rose. 

D. C. McCarty: lives in Canyonville; is a druggist; came 
to state in 1876 and to county in 1878; was born March 15, 
1850, in Toronto, Canada; married Miss Ora Park, August 
2, 1881. 

Robert T. McCulloch: lives in Roseburg; is a carpen- 
ter; came to state and county in 1853; was born October 14, 
1836, in Lee county, Iowa, 

Daniel T. McGuire: lives on Ten mile, fifteen miles 
west of Roseburg; post-office, Ten-mile; is a farmer; came to 
state and county in 1853; was born February 28, 1 843, in Lee 
county, Iowa. 

Peter McKinney: lives near Roseburg; is a farmer; came 
to state in 1850 and to county in 1852; was born in Wayne 
county, Indiana, in 1S30. 

James T. McLain: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer; came to state in 1847 and to county in 1872; was 
born February 7, 1832, in Boone county, Mo.; married Olive 
Linville, October 20, 1864. 

Joseph McLaughlin: lives on South Deer creek; is a 
farmer and stock raiser; post-office, Roseburg; was born in 
Bourbon county, Kentucky, July 5, 1812; came to state in 
1853 and to county in I854. 

George F. Merriman: lives in Oakland; is a black- 
smith; was born in Douglas county, Oregon, September 16, 
1856; married November 8, 1877, to Mary Murray. Children, 
Thomas O, Mary L. and Creed. 

John H. Mires: lives on Calapooia; post-office, Oakland; 
is a farmer and stock raiser; was born January 8, 1823, in 
Licking county, Ohio; came to state in 1853 an d to county in 
1854; was married March 27, 1851, to Mrs. Anna Byars, who 
had at time of this marriage three children, W. H., Rebecca 
and Mary. Mr. Mires' children are Austin, Benton. Anna, 
Maggie, Addie and John. 

Jacob S. Miller: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer; came to state and county in 1880; was born August 
11, 1862, in Vernon county, Wis.; was married January 1, 
1883, to Miss Anna Rader. 

William T. Morrison: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a 
farmer; came to state in 1865 and to county in 1873; was 
born April 2, 1850, in Jefferson county, Iowa. 

William N. Moore: lives in Roseburg; is county treas- 
urer; was born in Douglas county, January 15, 1858; is the 
son of the late Rev. Samuel C. Moore. 

Henry Morton: lives on Myrtle creek; is a saloon 
keeper; came to state in 1851 and to county in 1867; was 
born in Independence county, Arkansas, in 1833. 

Thomas W. Morgan: lives at Roseburg; is a dealer in 
confectionery, tobaccos, etc.; was born May 19, i858, in 
Douglas county; married October 17, 1883, to Cora L. Jones. 

James Murray: lives in Camas valley; is a stock grower; 
came to state in i860 and to county in 1862; was born in 
Greene county, Mo., April 14, 1829; married Sarah A. Friend, 
October 14, 1854 (deceased). 

Watson Mynatt: lives on Cow creek; is a farmer; came 
to state in 1853 and to county in 1854; was born July 22, 
1822, in Knox county, Tenn.; was married June 6, 1852, to 
Susan Dean. 

Byron R. Mynatt: lives on Ten-mile creek; is a farmer 
and stock raiser; post-office, Olalla; was born in Douglas 
county, Oregon, April 19, 1856; married April 27, 1881, to 
Miss Nancy McCulloch. 

Sergeant J. J. Nanry, U. S. Army: was born in New 
York City; lives at Roseburg and is in charge of the Signal 
service station at that place; was married July 8, 1874, to 
Mary J. South, who was born in Middlesex county, Va., March 
4, 1856. Children, Edward S., Walter J., George L. (de- 
ceased), and Clara. Mr. Nanry served a regular course at 
Fort Myer, Va., where all employees of the department have 
to be schooled. 

Thomas W. Newland: lives on Ten-mile; post-office Ten- 
mile; is a miller; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1853; 
was born in Tyler, West Virginia, November 4, 1832; mar- 
ried Anna Flook, March 7, 1869. 

David J. Noah: lives in Camas valley; is a farmer; came to 
state and county in 1855; was born in Sheridan county, Mo., 
July 31, 1842; married Mary A. Wiley, October 27, 1868. 

Joshua Noland: lives in Canyonville; is a miner; came t Q 



APPENDIX. 



515 



in 1S51, and to county in 1S5S; was bom September 11, 
1831, in LaFayette county, Mo. 

VV. G. W. ORR: lives on South Myrtle creek: is a farmer; 
came to slate in 1^53, and to county in 1S69; was born April 
13, 1S3S. in Hardin county, Tenn. ; married Hannah Strong, 
October II. ii>68. 

1'. H. G'Shea: lives on Catcher) creek, near Canyon ville; 
is a farmer; born in Ireland, in [843; came to America in 1853; 
ai rived in Oregon in 1S6S, and in county in 1878; married 
Kate Burke in 1876; has one child, Kate F. 

Dr. E. J. Page: lives in Oakland: is a physician and sur- 
geon; was born in Greene county, Tenn., October 21, 1849; 
graduated at Louisville Medical and Jefferson colleges Feb- 
ruary, 1S74; came to Oregon in 1877; married Miss Theresa 
A. Lewis, December 17, 1874. Children, Liilie Lee, Dora 
F. and Edward T. 

William E. Palmer: was born January 6, 1857. in Wil- 
bur, Douglas county, and is a son of Hon. P. P. Palmer, of 
Scottsburg; was accidentally killed, December 25, 1883, by 
a lading limb near Drain, where he was proprietor of sawmill; 
married Jennie E. Coats, September 19, 1876. Children, 
Thomas E. and Carrie E. 

P. C. Parker: lives in Oakland; is a minister; was lieu- 
tenant in Mexican war; has filled official positions from county 
judge to legislator; was born in Humphreys county, Tenn., 
October 16, 1809; came to state in 1852 and to county in 
1853; married October 18, 1828, to Mary H. Scantling (de- 
ceased); was again married November 8, l87S, to Lucy A. 
Bodyfelt, cousin of the late James A. Garfield. 

W. R. Patterson: lives at Scottsburg; is a hotel keeper; 
was born in Kentucky, August 24, 1833; came to state and 
county in 1853; was married February 5, 1864, to C. H. De- 
laney. Children, Annie E. , May, Thomas and Edward 
(twins), and Liilie. 

Hon. W. A. Perkins: lives at Drain; is agent and tele- 
graph operator for the R. R. Co. ; came to state and county 
in 1875; was born May 18, 1835, in Johnson county, Tenn.; 
was elected representative in 1882; married Rebecca J . Mc- 
Reynolds March, 1853. Children, Leonard, William and 
Ernest. 

Philip Peters: lives on Deer creek five miles east of 
Roseburg; is a farmer and stock grower; was born in Mont- 
gomery county, N. Y., in 1822; came to state in 1845 anu - t0 
county in 1851; was in Cayuse war in 1848. 

Robert Phipps: lives six miles south of Roseburg; post- 
office, Roseburg; was born in Chester county, Penn., May 2, 
1829; came to state in 1851 and to county in 1852; is a 
farmer; is married. 

James S. Pickett: lives near Canyonville; is a lumber- 
man; came to state and county in 1877; was born November 
15, 1830, in Davidson county, N. C; married December 8, 
1853. to Martha Pool. 

J. E. Pike: lives in Oakland; is a merchant; was born 
September 5, 1815, in Cincinnati, Ohio; came to state and 
county in 1872; married March, 1838, to Miss A. D. Abbey. 
Children, two. Married again February 29, 1852, to Eliza- 
beth Haynes. Children, Alva, Frank A. and Cora. 

William Pitchford: lives in Roseburg; is a painter; 
was born in Hillsborough, 111.; came to state in 1875 and to 
county in 1876; was married March 18, 1876, to Viola M. 
Harmon. Children, Mabel (deceased), Beatrice, (deceased), 
Charles and Agnes. 

Drury A. Prock: lives in Olalla valley; is a faimer; 
came to state in 1852 and to county in 1866; was born in 
Fayette county, Mo., in 1849. 

Martin Purkeypile: lives near Myrtle creek; is a car- 
penter; came to state and county in 1874; was born in Cham- 
pagne county, Ohio, February 25, 1842; married September 
II, 1S64, to Maria Hall. 

Charles F. Putnam: lives west of Drain in Tin Pot 
valley; is a farmer and stock grower; was born July 7, 1824, 
in Fayette county, Ky. ; is an early arrival in the state; was 
married December 7, 1846, to Rozella Applegate. Children, 
Charles, Lucinda, Horace, Edward, Cynthia, Susan and Jo- 
seph (twins.) 

Wm. Rader: lives on North Myrtle creek; post office Myr- 
tle creek; is a stock grower; came to state and county in 1S78; 
was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, January 14, 1861. 

John Ramey: lives on South Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in 1879; was born June 16, 1857, in 
Pike county, Kentucky; married Elva Stewart March 25, 1S83. 



RICHARD A. RAPER; lives on Oak creek; i> a farmer and 
stock grower; was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, 
December 30, 1827; came to state and county in 1853; was 
married to Mrs. Rebecca Thornhill, January 18, 1S55. 

Ephraim Raymond: lives on Day's creek; post-office 
Canyonville: is a farmer; was born in Steuben county, New 
York, August 31, 1823; arrived in this state in 185 1; married 
Caroline M. Leverich, October 24, 1864. 

1). Gay Reed: lives on Garden Bottom; is a farmer; post- 
office Wilbur; was born May 14, 1849, in Iowa; came to 
state and county in 1850. 

James E. Rice: lives near Oakland; is a farmer and stock 
grower; came to Oregon in 1844, and to county in 1861; was 
born in Upper Canada, February 18, 1812; was married to 
Nancy Bear. 

Martha A. Rice: lives on Rice creek; post-office Civil 
Bend; is a farmer; came to state and county in 1853. 

John A. Richards: lives in Roseburg; is a farmer; came to 
state in 1852, and to county in 1853: was born in Franklin 
county, Virginia, August 30, 18 1 1; married Francis McCor- 
mack, April 11, 1829. 

Abner Riddle: lives in Riddle; is a farmer; came to state 
and county in 1851; was born October 29, 1841, in Sangamon 
county, 111.; was married December 31, 1865, to Alice Rice. 

YV. H. Riddle: lives on Cow creek; post-office is Riddle; 
came to state and countyin 1851; was born in Bourbon county, 
Kentucky. 

George Risch: lives on Nonh Myrtle creek; is a miner; 
came to state in 1867, and to county in 1871; was born near 
Strasbourg, France, December 15, 1827. 

J. R. Roberts: lives on Rice creek; post-office Civil Bend; 
is a farmer; came to state and county in 1875; was born in 
Logan county, Ky., January 30, 1836; married December 23, 
1864. to Anna McGee. 

Henry Rogers: lives in Drain, is a carpenter; came to 
state in 1874, and to county in 1876; was born March 20, 1847, 
in Canada West near Toronto; was married in 1876, to Mary 
Clendenning. 

N. H. Rone: lives in Oakland; is a lumberman; was born 
January 3, 1837, in Ray county Mo. ; came to state and county 
in 1865; married Mary A. Copeland, January 27, 1857, 
(deceased), they had two children, one living; Sarah A. ; 
married again October 6, 1 867, to Miss Eliza J. Rice, who 
had three children, America M., Edgar L. and Frank. 

Randolph T. Rose: lives on Roberts creek, eight miles 
south of Roseburg; post-office Roseburg; was born in Schuyler 
county, 111., January 26, 1 840; came to coast in 1847, and to 
Douglas county in 1855; was married to Miss Beaver in 1861. 

M. C. Buckle: lives at Oak Grove; post-office Myrtle 
creek; is a farmer; came to state in 1852, and to county in 
1858; was born in Baltimore, Maryland; married Mary Steven- 
son, September 16, 1861. 

E. C. Sacry: lives in Oakland; is an accountant; was born 
October 3, 1831, in Greene county, Ky.; came to state and 
county January 9, 1878; married November 25, 1S52, to 
M ss Lucy J. Fortune. Children, William A., Addie M., 
Susan V. , Harry B., Maggie, Carl B. and Edward C. 

Simon Selig: lives at Myrtle creek; is a merchant; came 
to stats and county in 1863; was born in Prussia January 7, 
1837; was married February 6, 1866, to Helen Solomon. 

Henry C. Shaff: lives on the North Umpqua fourteen 
miles east of Roseburg; post-office, Mt. Scott; is a farmer; 
was born in Wayne county, N. V., December 23, 1829; came 
to state and county in 1862; was married to Elizabeth Kelsey, 
February 27, 1877. 

George Shambrook: lives in Cole's valley; is a farmer 
and merchant; was born at Cambridge, England, in 1S28; 
came to state in 1847 and to county in 1852; was married 
November 5, 1855, to Lucretia Ridenour. Children, John 
C, Daniel R., Eli (deceased), Mary J., George H., Hannah 
E., Jesse, Olive B. (deceased), Benjamin F., Welthy A. (de- 
ceased), Martha E. and Maud C. 

David R. Shambrook: lives in Cole's valley about twenty 
miles west of Roseburg; is a farmer; post-office, Umpqua 
Ferry; was born in Douglas county, April 19, i860; was 
married to Mary King, October 18, 1880. Children, Flossie 
P. and infant. 

Dr. J. C. Shambrook: lives in Oakland; is a physician; 
was born in Douglas county September 3, 1856; graduated in 
Louisville medical college, February 25, 1881. 

R. L. Shelly: lives in Drain; is a minister; was born in 



516 



APPENDIX. 



Lane county, Oregon, April, 1853; was married to Miss 
Mary Gross, May 7, 1876. Children, Daisy M,, Jesse M. and 
Nettie B. 

James F. Sheffield: lives on South Umpqua; post-office, 
Roseburg; is a farmer; came to state and county in 1853; 
was born August 5, 1825, in Huron county Ohio. 

R. S. Sheridan: lives in Roseburg; is a hardware mer- 
chant; was born in Roseburg September 5, 1859. Mr. Sheri- 
dan, with his brother, J. C, occupy the first brick built in the 
town. 

Joseph C. Sheridan: lives in Roseburg; is a hardware 
merchant; was born in San Francisco February 1, 1855; was 
married June 20, 1883 to Miss Sarah Flournoy. 

Thomas R. Sheridan: lives in Roseburg; is a hardware 
merchant; was born in Rochester, N. Y. ; is married. Chil- 
dren, Minnie and Grace. 

John P. Sheridan: lives in Roseburg; is a hardware 
merchant; came to state and county in 1857; was born in 
Rochester, N. Y., November 2, 1852. 

Thomas P. Sheridan: lives on his farm one mile south of 
Roseburg; came to state and county in 1855; was the first 
tinner that opened business in the county; was born in Cairn 
county, Ireland, in 1823. 

Ed. F. Sheridan: lives in Roseburg; is a farmer; was 
born May r6, 1857, a t Scottsburg, Douglas county; married 
November 27, 1881, to Miss Alice Neeves. 

L. Short: lives in Wilbur; is a farmer and stock grower; 
was born in Hart county, Kentucky, in 1841; came to state 
and county in 1865; married November, 1867, to Miss Annie 
Dixon, Children, Elizabeth and Nellie. 

John H. Shupe: lives in Oakland; is a merchant; was 
born in Cass county, Mo., April 26, 1850; came to state in 
1853 an d to county in 1854; married September 16, 1877, to 
Miss Mary E. Kruse. Children, Leona E., Margaret W. and 
Rachel G. 

William Silvers: lives on Ten-mile creek; post-office, 
Olalla; is a farmer; came to state and county in 1853; was 
born April 25, 1833, in Wayne county, Ind. ; married Mary 
Simmons September 29, 1862. 

J. B. Smith: lives on Clark's Branch; is a farmer; post- 
office, Myrtle creek; was born January 15, 1816, in Madison 
county, Ky. ; came to state in 1846 and to county in 1870; 
married February 6, 1 840, ta Emily Thorp. Children, Cin- 
derella, William O. (deceased), Melissa J., Mary, Emily, 
Ellen, G. D., JohnD., Fleeta, Lennie L., Louisa, Marcus B. 
and infant. 

B. D. Smith: lives at Wilbur; is a teacher; was born in 
La Salle county, 111., November 25, 1854; came to state and 
county in 1874. 

George A. Smith: lives in Camas valley; is a farmer; 
came to state in 1857 and to county in 1870; was born in 
Genesee county, N. Y., February 3, 1835. 

Mrs. Susan Smith: lives on South Umpqua near Myrtle 
creek. 

Charles W. Smith: lives five miles south of Roseburg; 
post-office, Roseburg; is a farmer and stock raiser; was born 
in England, February 17, 1827; came to state in 1850 and to 
county in 1851; was employed on first newspaper published in 
Oregon. 

W. R. Smith: was born March 4, 1812, in Shenandoah 
county, Virginia; came to state and county in 1864; post-office, 
Oakland; married May, 1843, to Winnie H. Williams. Chil- 
dren, Edward M., Henrietta (deceased), Adolphus, Lucy M., 
Alonzo M., Alfonzo A., Flavius, Nancy A., Alice G., Susan, 
Eliza F. and Walter S. 

Jacob B. Spaur: lives five miles south of Roseburg; post- 
office, Roseburg; is a farmer; was born in Lewis county, Va., 
January 9, 1825; came to state in 1852 and to county in 1853. 

A. F. Stearns: lives at Oakland; is a merchant; was born 
October 24, 1854, in Douglas county, Oregon; was married 
October 2, 1881, to Miss Nannie E. Chenoweth. 

George W. Stephens: lives on Calapooia; is a farmer; 
post-office, Oakland; was born in Douglas county, Oregon, 
November 19, 1856; married October 22, 1882, to Miss Belle 
Farnsworth. 

G. H. Stevenson: lives at Oak Grove; post-office, Myrtle 
creek; is a farmer and stock grower; came to state and county 
in 1853; was born in Hopkins county, Ky., May 4, 1836; 
married Mary A. Roberts, October 19, 1866. 

Thomas Strode: lives on South Myrtle creek; was born 
July 2, 1863, in Polk county, Oregon. 



Dr. D. S. Stryker: lives in Drain; is a physician and 
dentist; was born in Strykerville, Wyoming county, N. Y., 
June 19, 1835; came to state in 1 866 and to county in 1876; 
owns first brick building built in Drain; was married to Miss 
Celia M. Stone, February 22, 1864. Children, Stanton W., 
Ola M., George W., Guy, Ray S. and Pearl D. 

Sampson Sutherlin: lives at Fair Oaks near Oakland; is 
a farmer and stock grower; came to state and county in 1850; 
married June 23, 1861, to Lucy A. Parris. Children, Irene 
J. (deceased), Lulu A., John H., William F., Emma, Mary 
A., Charles E. and Sampson. 

G. A. Taylor: lives in Oakland; is a telegraphist and 
postmaster; was born near Albany, Oregon, February 22, 
1855; came to county in 1872; married May 7, 1874, to Miss 
E. J. Hall. One child, Eva. 

Lawson Thomas: lives in Canyonville; is a mail contrac- 
tor; came to state in 1852, and to county in 1854; was born 
July 3, 1839, in Harrison county, Indiana; married September 
1865, to Mrs. Isabella Dysart. 

Louis T. Thompson: lives in Coles' valley; is a farmer; 
post-office, Umpqua Ferry; was born in Logan county, Illi- 
nois, December 14, 1842; came to state and county in 1858; 
was married September 8, 1867, to Missouri A. Wright. 
Children, Olive, Minnie, Laura, Edward, Leonora, William O., 
Mary, Louis and John M. 

W. H. Thompson: lives in Cainas valley; post-office 
Camas; was born in Douglas county, Oregon, August 4, 1861. 

James W. Thornton: lives in Looking-glass valley; is a 
farmer; post-office, Looking-glass; was born in DeKalb coun- 
ty, Missouri, in 1839; was married in 1865, to Mary A. Scott. 
They have a family of eight children. 

Joseph B. Tipton: lives on North Umpqua; post-office, 
Mt. Scott; is a farmer and miller; came to state and county 
in 1854; was born in Blunt county, Mo., August 16, 1847; 
married July 10, 1866, to Ellen Strader. 

Ferdinand M. Tipton: lives on North Umpqua; is a 
farmer, miller and stock raiser; post-office, Mt. Scott; was 
born in Benton county, Mo., May 24, 1851; came to state in 
1853, and to county in 1854; was married to Linnie Miller 
June 30, 1880. 

William C. Tipton: lives near North Umpqua; is a 
farmer and stock raiser; post-office, Mt. Scott; was born in 
Benton county, Mo., June 12, 1852; came to state in 1853, 
and to county in 1854; was married to Eliza A May, Septem- 
ber 19, 1883. 

William Trask: lives on North Umpqua; is a farmer 
and stock raiser; post-office, Mt. Scott; was born in Franklin 
county, Mass., in 1814; came to state and county in 1852; wa s 
married to Lucy P. Doolittle, August 10, 1851. 

James A. Velzian: lives in Civil Bend; is a farmer; post- 
office, Roseburg; came to state and county m 1859; wa s born 
February 22, 1837, in Nova Scotia; was married November 
6, 1862, to Sarah McBee. Six children in family 

James Ward: lives on Pass creek, near Drai n .' is a farm- 
er; came to state and county in 1853; was born February 3, 
1841, in Johnson county, Iowa; was married to Rosa Anlauf. 
One child, Clara. 

C. L. Walk: lives in Canyonville; is a physician; came 
to state in 1873, anc ' t0 county in 1882; was born 1857, in 
Placerville, Eldorado county, Cal. 

John L. Watson: lives on the east fork of North Ump- 
qua, about twenty miles east of Roseburg; post-office, Mt. 
Scott; is a farmer and stock raiser; was born in Garnavilla, 
Iowa, June 4, 1852; came to state and county in 1853. 

Mrs. Emily Watson: was born at Sackett's Harbor, N. 
Y., March 26, 1818, and was married to James Watson, Octo- 
ber 15, 1835. I n company with her husband and family she 
crossed the plains in 1853, and settled in Lane county, but 
came to this county in 1854, and setted on her farm on the 
east fork of the North Umpqua, where she has since lived. 
Her husband, James Watson, died some years ago. 

Edwin Weaver: lives on Myrtle creek; post-office, Myrtle 
creek; is a farmer and stock raiser; came to state and county 
in 1853; was born in Washington county, 111., in 1848. 

William W. Wells: lives in Elkton; is a lawyer by pro- 
fession; was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, January 17, 
1830; came to state and county in 1851; has served as treas- 
urer and school superintendent; commenced the practice of 
law in 1861, but has since withdrawn from practice. 

Solomon H. Way: lives southeast of Roseburg; post- 
office, Roseburg; is a farmer; came to state in 1869, and to 



APPENDIX. 



517 



county in 1S70; was born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 181 1; 
was married in 1S34 to Mary Hodson Boone. 

David S. West: lives in Garden valley, west of Rose- 
burg; is a farmer and stock grower; came to state and county 
in 1855; xvas born in 1S47 in Defiance county, Ohio. 

JosiRUS West: lives on Ten Mile; is a miner; came to 
stale and county in 1861; was born in Harrison county, Ken- 
tucky. May 28, 1825; married May, 1 875, to Mrs. Elizabeth 
Higgins. 

William K. Wells: lives on Ten-mile creek; is a mer- 
chant; post-office, Olalla; came to state in 1852, and to 
county in 1853; was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, Aug. 
8, 1842; married Emaline Tedrow, April 12, 1863. 

James B. Weaver: lives on Missouri bottom; post-office, 
Myrtle creek; is a farmer; came to state and county in l85o; 
was born in Williamson county, Tennessee, April 13, 1832; 
married May 3, 1859, to Sarah A. Bailey. 

Simeon Wheeler: (deceased) formerly lived at Roseburg; 
was a farmer; and born near Boston, Mass., September I, 
1823; came to state and county in 1853; was married February 
14, 1850, to Esther Clark. Children, Levant C, Walter, 
Emilia and Elmer. 

William Wheeler: lives in Oakland; is a miller; was 
born May 8, 1826, in Ashland county, Ohio; came to state in 
1845, and to county in 1865; married July 25, 1850, to Mary 
E. Armpitt, who was drowned with two children in Umpqua 
August 1876. Children living, Margaret A., Joseph L. , 
Charles W., John P., Ernest, Shadrach and George F. 

E. F. Whisler: lives on Looking-glass; is a carpenter; 
came to state in 1852, and to county in 1854; was born in 
Penn., in 1809. 

Thos. W. WlNNIFORD: lives on Calapooia; post-office 
Oakland; is a farmer; born in Addington, Washington county, 
Virginia, August 13, 1830; came to state and county in 1871; 
married December 19, 1854, to Margaret E. Bruner. Chil- 
dren, George B., Martha J., John A., Mary E., Joseph E., 
Robert L., Susan E. and Thomas. 

Enoch Wimberly : lives on North Umpqua; is a farmer 
and stock raiser; his address is Mt. Scott; was born in Lincoln 
county, Mo., April 15, 1830; arrived in Marion county of this 
state in 1846, and came to this county in 1854; was married to 
Nancy A. Marks, September 3, 1857. 

William C. Winston: lives six miles south of Roseburg; 
is a fruit grower; was born April 29, 1838, in Albany county, 
N. Y. ; came to state in 1862, and to county in 1866; married 
February 25, 1859, to Agnes M. Rice. Mr. Winston is ex- 
tensively engaged in fruit gfowing. 

W. B. Wilson: lives in Riddle; keeps a grocery store; came 
to state and county in 1880; was born June 11, 181 1, in 
Kanawha county, West Virginia; married August 1833, to 
Mary F. Ifenson. 

W. L. Wilson: lives on Cow creek; post-office Riddle; is a 
farmer and stock grower; came to state in 1845, and to county 
in 1853; was born May 3, 1832, in Clay county, Missouri; 
married to Hudda Mynatt (deceased) December 24, 1854; was 
again married May 5, 1 86 1, to Harriet Haskins. 

Forey A. Williams: lives in Looking-glass valley; is a 



farmer and tinsmith; born November 12, 1854, in Looking- 
glass valley; married November 21, 1878, to Julia E. Buell, 
only child, Jesse, born August 23, 1879. 

Henry Wiley: lives on North Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state in 1852, and to county in 1853; was born in Pike 
county, Ohio, December 13, 1821; married ]une 9, 1859, to 
Mrs. Daisy A. Milliken. 

Jefffrscn Wiley: lives on Myrtle creek; is a farmer; 
came to state and county in 1872; was born in Logan county, 
111., August 24, 1849; was married to Henrietta Jones, Novem- 
ber 11, 1874. 

William T. Woodson: lives on Round Prairie; post-office 
Roseburg; is a farmer; came to state in 1850, and to county in 
1851; was born in Benton county, Mo., July 2, 1841; married 
November 19, 1876. 

A. W. W t oolly: lives on Day's creek; is a boot and shoe- 
maker; post-off.ce Canyonville; born in Norfolk, Virginia, 
July 10, 1821; came to Oregon in 1842, then in the employ of 
the American Fur Company; married to [. Chamberlain in 
1868. 

William J. Worley: lives at Canyonville; is a miner; 
born in Buncombe county, North Carolina, July 4, 1834; 
arrived in state and county in 1859; married Jane Fiddes, 
January 8, 1863. Children, Joseph W. and Alary J. 

Calvin W. Wright: lives in French Settlement; is a 
farmer; was born July 7, 1859, in Douglas county, Oregon; 
married May I, 1881, to Nettie Williams. 

Hiram F. Wright: lives on Cow creek; post-office Can- 
yonville; is a farmer; came to state and county in 1874; was 
born November 9, 1850 in Ohio; married October 9, 1875, to 
Alary Bollenbaugh. 

Joshua Wright: lives on Norlh Myrtle creek; is a miner; 
came to state and county in 1853, was born in Lincoln county, 
Ohio, November 12, 1827; married to Miss Emma Jones, 
November 9, 1877. 

William F. Wright: lives in Oakland; is a book keeper; 
was born February 8, 1848, in Linn county, Missouri; came 
to state in 1852 and to county in 1853; married November 22, 
[868, to Miss Amanda E. Williams who died February 22, 
1 87 1, had one child; married again September 25, 1872, to 
Miss Marietta Williams, who died December 18, 1879; children, 
William W., Una M., Esther P. and Lester. Married third 
time, to Fannie E. Wright, July 14, 1883. 

Ambrose C. Young: lives in Oakland; is a livery stable 
keeper; was born in Kentucky July 13, 1830; came to state in 
1853, and to county in 1864; was married May 6, 1866, to 
Pauline Reed; have one child, Willis H. 

J. C. Young: lives at Drain; was born in Christian county, 
Illinois, February 4, 1844; was married to Miss Agnes Shaw, 
March 20, 1865. Children, Margaret (deceased), Joseph 
(deceased), and Manna. 

L. H. Zigler: lives in Roseburg; is a hotel keeper; came 
to state in 1850; and to county in 1873; was born in Detroit 
county, Virginia; married Sarah Plymale. Children, Charles 
P., Zelia Kate (deceased), FredM., Michael (deceased), Lew, 
Paul and Claud. 



COOS COUNTY. 



' C. Andrews: a resident of Coquille City, where he is en- 
gaged in the general grocery business, in connection with 
which he is the postmaster of that town; he came to Coos 
county in 1872. 

Samuel Appleton: lives on Coquille river: came to 
county with his mother in 1873; is about twenty-four years of 

a s e - 

H. M. Backensto: lives in Marshfield; is a music teacher; 
was born in Albany, Oregon. 

Rev. C. P. Bailey: lives at Sumner; is a minister; came 
to state in 1852 and to county in 1874; was born in Missouri; 
married December 1871, to Mary J. Stephenson. Children, 
Winnie G., Martha J., Charles E., Samuel M. and Cassie M. 

J. F. Barrows: lives on the Coquille; is engaged in sal- 
mon canning; came to state in 1847 and to county in 1883; 
went to relieve the Whitman party after the memorable mass- 
acre; has six children. 

S. L. Belieu: lives on the Coquille river; post-office, 
Norway; was born in Piatt county, Mo., in 1837; is married; 
has four children, Ella, John D., Lulu and Lloyd. 



George Bennett: came to Coquille in 1873; settled 
about one mile below Bandon ferry on land first selected by 
Thomas Low, being the first donation claim taken in this sec- 
tion of country; is a native of Ireland and a man of large in- 
telligence, author of the history of Bandon, Ireland, a very 
creditable work; he is justice of peace for the precinct. 

J. D. Bennett: lives at Coquille; is a miller; came to 
county in 1879; was born in Fayette county, Ilk; is married; 
has two children. 

W. A. Border: was born in Pennsylvania in 1832; came 
to state and county in 1877; married in 1854 to Miss Marie 
Hopkins, of London, England. Children, Alonzo, Albert 
and Eva. 

G. Browne: lives with his family in Coquille city; is a 
painter; came to the coast in 1873. 

G. A. Brown: was born in Lyon county, Ky., in 1833; 
came to state and county September, 1861; was married to 
Miss M. J. Hill, of Lyon county, Ky. Children, John W., 
James C, Ann E., Daniel H., R. E L., G. S., Glenn and 
Cora. 



518 



APPENDIX. 



W. H. Bunch: lives in Coquille; is a native of Kansas; 
married Miss Lizzie Roberts, June 16, 18S1. One child. 

A. L. Buei.L: was born in Cincinnatti, Ohio, in 1847; 
came to Oregon in 1852, and to his present location on Catch- 
ing creek in 1881, where he is engaged in sheep raising; mar- 
ried and has two children, Eva B. and Nora. 

John W. Caldwell: lives in Eckleyj is a stock raiser; 
post-office, Eckley; was born May 11, 1853, in Missouri; 
came to state in 1864, and to county in 1871; married March 
29, 1879, to Christenia B. Majory. Children, Grace B., 
Mary M. and infant.' 

William Carothers: lives in Coquille city; is a mer- 
chant and a native of Douglas county; came to Coquille 
in 1871. 

K. K. Colwell: lives at Coquille; is a boot and shoe 
maker; came to county in 1871. 

John Church: lives in Marshfield; is publisher of a news- 
paper; came to state and county in 1881; is a native of Indi- 
ana; married in 1867, to Mary B. Parker. 

Charles E. G. Deitz: lives at Myrtle Point; was born 
in Hanover, Germany, in 1829; came to state and county in 
1865; married March 30, 1868, to Mary E. Wilber. Children, 
Joseph, Lizzie E., William E., Samuel E., Grace E., Jane 
E. (deceased), and Johanna E. 

VV. L. Dixon: was born in Maine in 1849; came to county 
in 1875; is a merchant; was married in 1881 to Fanny G. 
Lehnherr. Children, M. M. and Merrill. 

D. Donelson: lives on the Coquille where he settled in 
1868; is a mechanic; was married in 1872 to Miss Thrush. 

David Drew: lives in Coquille city; is a blacksmith; is a 
nephew of T. B. Willard, the founder of Coquille city. 

John B. Dudley: lives in Sumner, and was the founder 
of that town; is a merchant; came to state in 1850 and to 
county in 1854; was born in Pittsburg. Penn. ; and married 
in January, 1875, to Henrietta Higley. Children, Charles, 
Willie, Minta, Herbert and Edward. 

Dr. George D. Elgin: lives at Myrtle Point; was born 

in Kentucky; came to state and county in 1870; isaphysician. 

Jacob Fouts: lives near Coquille city; is a logger; was 

born in Douglas county, Oregon; came to this county in 1868 

and has a farm on Cunningham creek. 

Martin L. Friend: lives at Camas valley; is a mechanic; 
was born in Iowa; came to state in i860. 

J. F. Fuller: lives in Bandon; is a carpenter; came to 
state and county in 1877. 

George Grube: lives at Grube's mill; post-office, Ran- 
dolph; was born in Germany; came to state in 1859 and to 
county in 1866; is single and 54 years of age; is a merchant. 
William Hall: lives at Marshfield; is a surveyor; was 
born in Green county, Tenn. ; came to state in 1850 and to 
county in 1870; was married October 5, 1851, to Martha Cox. 
Children, J. F., J. T., A. J., Ida P., Sarah A., Mary M. 
and Walter St. Clair, an adopted son. 

John Hambloch: lives on Coquille river; was born in 
Seigne, West Phalin, Prussia, July 9, 1829; came to America 
in 1849 and to county in 1854; was married in Port Orford in 
1856 to Miss Jane A. Long. Children, Mary E. (deceased), 
Malinda N., John A. and Mary C. 

Thomas P. Hanley: lives on the Coquille where he came 
in 1868; married Miss Dora A. L. Schroeder, in 1881. One 
child, a son. 

Captain W. H. Harris: lives on South Coquille river; 
post-office, Myrtle Point; was born in Howard county, Mo., 
January 9, 1823; came to state in 1850 and to county in 1853; 
married December 24, 1858, to Margaret Romanes. Chil- 
dren, Mary, Elizabeth and Christenia. Captain Harris 
served in the Mexican and Southern Oregon wars. 

Richard Haughton: lives near Norway; came to the 
county in 1874; was born in England. 

John Haulter: lives near Norway; is a log contractor; 
came to Coquille in 1880; was born in France. 

James S. Hayes: lives in Coquille city; is a painter; was 
born in Washington Territory; came to Oregon in 1868 and 
to county in 1873; was married August 17, I882, to Julia C. 
Vowel. One child, George. 

E. Henkendorff: lives on the Coquille; is a mechanic; 
came to county in 1880; married Miss Clara Gillman. 

Frank P. Hermann: lives at Myrtle Point; is a clerk and 
photographer; was born in Lonaconing, Alleghany county, 
Md. , came to state and county in 1859; married Emma K. 
Hull March 13, 18S3. 



Joseph Hudson: lives at Sumner; is a carpenter; came to 
state in 1847 and to county in 1875; was married April, 
1867, to Margaret Wheeler. Children, Mary, Abbie, Eliza, 
Josephine, John, Inez and Joseph. 

Thomas N. Johnson: lives in Sumner; is a blacksmith; 
came to state in 1870, and to county in 1871; was married in 
1857 to Frances M. Stevens. Children, Thomas W., George 
W. ; Katie J., Ira, Russell and Sadie F. Three of the family 
are deceased — Sarah, Ira and Cora B. 

Edward Jennings: lives at Empire City, is a school 
teacher; came to state in 1847, anc ' t0 county in 1870; mar- 
ried November 20, 1880, to Maud Fetter. Children, Law- 
rence B. and Clara E. 

James Jenson: lives in Parkersburg; is a fisherman; was 
born in Denmark in 1850; came to the United States in 1868, 
and to Coquille in 1875. 

William Jenkins: lives on Enchanted Prairie; post-of- 
fice, Angora; is a farmer; was born in Hopkins county, Ky., 
in 1832; came to state in 1844 and to county in 1853. 

Alexander Jackson: lives on Coquille river; was born 
in Illinois in 1834; married to Miss Williams, in 1859; came 
to Oregon in 1879. Children, Mary A. and Agnes. 

George W. Lanieve: came to the Coquille in 1864; is a 
hotel and saloon keeper; was married January 18, 1877, to 
Susan F. Wagner, one child, Daisy. 

Jesse Lanieve: lives on Bear creek near Coquille; is a 
farmer; post-office Parkersburg; was married in 1878, to Miss 
Pruit. 

James Laird: was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., in 
1832; came to state and county in 1875; was married to Mrs. 
C. A. Harry, in 1875. Children, Walter M., Joseph L. 
and Carl E. 

Milton R. Lee: was born in Looking Glass, Douglas 
county, Oregon, March 29, 1863, and moved with his parents 
in 1873, to Coquille in Coos county, where he is engaged in 
farming. 

T. A. Lewis: came to the county in 1864; post-office, Ban- 
don; was for eight years mail carrier between Gardiner and 
Port Orford. 

John Lever: lives at Sumner; is a logger; came to state 
and county in 1862; is a native of New Brunswick; was mar- 
ried December 7, 1856, to Betsey M. Chase. One child, Per- 
cy Chase. 

Judge D. J. Lowe: came to Coquille river in 1856, and 
brought his wife in 1858. They have six children, all of 
whom were born on the Coquille, the eldest daughter, Mrs. 
Walcot, was born April 1859 and was the first white child 
born on the Coquille. 

A. J. Mack: lives near Norway; is an engineer: post-office 
Norway; came to state and county in 1874; has a wife and five 
children. 

Geo. W. Martin: lives on Coos river; is a logger; post- 
office Marshfield; was born in 1858 in Iowa; came to state and 
county in 1874; married September 2, 1883, to Laura E. Ben- 
nett. 

Robert L. Martindale: lives in Camas valley; is a 
farmer; post-office Camas valley; is a native of Douglas county, 
Oregon . 

R. Mathison: lives in Coquille; is a shoe maker; came to 
county in 1874; is a married man, and doing an extensive 
business in the boot and shoe line. 

Sol. McClosky: lives near Norway; came to Coquille river 
October 1876, has held office of justice of the peace and post- 
master. 

John McIsaacs: lives at Marshfield; is a teamster; was 
born in British America in 1835; came to state and county in 
1864. 

G. Mehl: was born in Germany, in 1823; is a brewer; 
arrived in Philadelphia, Penn., in 1844; came to state in 1850, 
and to Coos county in 1876; was married in 1S68, to Mary 
Harney. Children, Fred, Mary, William, Thomas and 
George. 

Hon. William Morris: lives near Coquille city; where he 
located with his family in December 1872; he is a native of 
England; was nominated by the republicans in 1880 for legis- 
lature and elected; was re-elected in 1882. 

John T. Moulton: lives at Coquille city; is a merchant; 
came to Coquille in 1865, is a native of Maine. 

Oden Nelson: lives at Norway; is one of the founders of 
this place, located here in 1873; is a merchant. 

William Oddy: lives at Myrtle Point; is a telegraph 



APPENDIX. 



519 



operator, clerk and salesman; came to the Coquille in 1875: 
has had some experience in mail contracting. 

T. G. Owen: is a lawyer; came to this county in 1873; was 
admitted to the bar in 1874. 

C. F. \V. Yon PEGERT: was horn in Prussia; is a mechanic; 
post-office, Coquille; came to Coos hay in 1869, since which 
time he has resided there; married to Miss Perkins in 1874. 

Otto H. PREY; lives at Myrtle Point; is a merchant; was 
born in Prussia March 20, 1839; came to state and county in 
1S77; was married in 1S73 to Louisa Plitt. Children, Au- 
gu c ta Emily, 13. Frank, Bertha and Otto. 

Captain O. Reed: lives at Norway, a little "burg" 
named by the Captain in honor of his native country; has a 
general merchandise store at this place; he, with his brother, 
built, in 1878, the little craft Cere's. 

J. C. Robinson: lives on North Coos river; is a farmer: 
post-office, Marshfield; came to state in 1850 and to county 
in i860; was married in 1873; has eight children. 

STEPHEN ROGERS: lives on South Coos river; is a farmer 
and merchant; post-office, Marshfield; came to state and 
county in l87o; was born in Danbytown, Vt.; married in 
1S60 to Adelia Parker. Children, H. H., Cynthia A., Frank 
E., Emma J. and Nellie J. 

James VV. Rooke: lives on North Coos river; is a farmer; 
post-office, Marshfield; came to state in 1852 and to county in 
1853; was born in Dublin, Ireland; married in 1863 to Helen 
Gurney. Children, Thomas R., Eliza E., James W. and 
Rosaltha E. 

Abram Rose: lives at Black sand mines; is a miner; post- 
office, Randolph; came to state in 1858 and to county in 1871; 
is married; has two daughters. 

B. F. Ross: lives on Ross slough near Marshfield; is a 
farmer and butcher; came to state in 1850 and to county in 
1853; was born in Indiana; was married October 10, 1864, to 
Rhoda E. Bonebrake. One child, George F. 

A. H. Sargent: lives on Coquille river; is a farmer; 
came to county in 1874, where he has since resided. 

Edward E. Scales: lives in Coquille city; is a clerk and 
broker; came to state in 1856; has lived in this county twenty- 
seven years. 

F. E. Schofield: lives at Dora, Coos county; was born 
in 1843; came to Oregon in 1876; married Miss Emmons, of 
Iowa. Children, Ida, Edna, Ivan and Clara. 

J. H. Schroeder: was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1840; 
came to county in 1859; is a farmer; was married to Miss 
Emily Perry, December 30, 1861. Children, Dora, A. L., 
Mary E., William T., Ella J., George T., Alice May, Walter 
V., Clarence, Ralph and Gustave. 

J. Frederick Schroder: lives near Norway; is a farmer; 
was born in Baltimore, Md., September 15, 1844; came to 
state and county in 1859. was married December 25, 1866 to 
Mary Perry. Children, Clara B., Charles A., Frank, E, 
Finley and Eva L. 

Samuel B. Sherwood: lives in Sumner; is proprietor of 
a livery stable, teamster, &c. ; came to state and county in 
1871; was born in Onondaga county, N. Y.; was married Oc- 
tober 30, i860, to Eliza J. Finch. Children, Mary E., Starr 
K. and Mattie. 

Harry Simmons: lives at Bandon; is a ship carpenter; 
came to county and state in 1883; is unmarried. 

J. M. SiGLIN: lives at Marshfield; is a lawyer; was born 



in Monroe county, Penn. ; came to stale and county in Januai . 
1S72, married March 22, 1863. to Nellie Sherman. One child 
Kate M. 

A. J. Smith: lives in Sumner; came to state in 1859, and 
to county in 1883; was born in Canada West. 

John Snyder: was born in Germany in 1842; came to 
America in 1852, to Oregon in 1869, and to county in 1873; 
was married to Miss Amanda Hayes in 1865. Children, 
Alice, Ada and John. 

Russell Stevens: lives on Catching slough; is a farmer; 
post-office, Marshfield; is a native of New York; came to 
state in 1868, and to county in 1869; was married in 1866, to 
Nancy J. Darling. They have an adopted child, Francis L. 
Stevens. 

Edwin E. Stillwell: lives in Coquille city; is a native 
of Douglas county; has lived in Coquille eighteen years. 

S. E. Steward: lives in Coquille city; is a log contractor; 
came to county in 1865; was married to Miss Moulton, by 
whom he had five children, two living and three dead. 

Dr. J. W. Starr: lives at Bandon; is a physician; was 
born in Belmont county, Ohio; came to state in 1853, and to 
county in 1883; married February 22, 1872, to Adaline Wil- 
liamson. One child, Luri \V. 

John F. Timmerman: lives at Webster's Point; is a farmer; 
post-office Marshfield; came to state and county in 1870; mar- 
ried in 1873, to Louisa Schroeder, one child, Max. 

J. P. TuppeR: lives at Bandon; is a hotel keeper and mer- 
chant; came to state and county in 1869; was born in Nova 
Scotia; married October 3, 1861, to Martha A. Lynch, only 
child, Benjamin F. 

Carl H. Volmar: lives at Myrtle Point; is an attorney-at- 
law, graduated in University of Maryland, in 1877; originally 
came to Coquille in 1859; was born in Baltimore, Maryland, 
September 18, 1856. 

George Wasson: this gentleman is said to have built the 
first house in Enpire city, Coos county, in the summer of 1853. 
Mr. Wasson was born in New Brunswick, and came to this 
state in 1850, and to Coos county in 1853. 

James A. Waller: lives at Coquille city; is a carpenter; 
came to county in 1868; was born in Tennessee; is a promi- 
nent member of the order of Odd Fellows. 

Joseph Waltser: lives at Randolph; is a brewer; was 
born in Germany. Mr. Waltser has acquired a good reputa- 
tion as a brewer. 

William M. Way: Lves with his family at Norway; is a 
clerk and telegraph operator; came to state and county in 1875. 

Mathew Whoberg: was born in Howard county, Missou- 
ri, in 1825, and came to Oregon in 1852; settled on his present 
farm of 160 acres on Catching creek in 1872; married and has 
ten children, Margret Ann, Mary E., Catharine, James A. M., 
Willis G., Amelia J., John M,, William G., Joseph C, and 
Samantha. 

T. B. WlLLARI): lives. in Coquille; was the original prop- 
rietor of the town; was a pioneer of 1853; came to this 
county in 1866 

Jasper A. Yorkam: lives on Coos river; is a farmer; post- 
office, Marshfield; came to state in 1853 and to county in 
1854; was born in Illinois; was married February 14, 1871, 
to Marian A. Rogers. Children, Edwin R. (deceased), 
George H. (deceased), Lydia E., Stephen J. (deceased) and 
Jasper A. 



CURRY COUNTY. 



D. L. Anderson: was born in Warren county, Tennessee, 
and came to Oregon in 1850, and in May, 1881, located on 
his present farm near Denmark, Curry county, and engaged 
in farming; married a daughter of ex-Judge Fitzhugh, and 
has eleven children, George, Mira (deceased), Enoch, Dickey 
(deceased), John, Fitzhugh, Lee, Solomon, Phebe, Hannah, 
Eva and Nancy. 

Wit. H. H. Averill: a native of Illinois, and in 1852 
emigrated to Oregon, and in 1880 came to Curry county, lo- 
cating on Flora's Flats, two miles from Denmark; owns 200 
acres of land, where he also keeps a merchandise store; is 
forty years of age and married. Has a family of four chil- 
dren, Euphonia A., James S., Lawrence A. and Edgar F. 

W. H. Bagnell: lives four miles above Ellensburg; is en- 
gaged in fishing and farming ; is a native of Troy, New York; 
came to the state and county in 1855. 



M. M. Bates: lives at Port Orford; is a lawyer; was born 
in Massachusetts; came to state and county in 1864; married 
in 1869 to Fannie M. Dyer. Children, Ida May, Blanche 
and B. W. 

Morris L. Bennett: is a native of Ohio; was born Oct. 
11, 1854, and came to Coos county, Oregon, in 1877, and 
with his mother located on his present ranch in Curry county 
in March, 1878; has 320 acres of land, and engaged in sheep 
raising. 

Jesse W. Carey: lives on Mussel creek; is a farmer and 
stock raiser; post-office, Port Orford; was born in Hamilton 
county, Ind. ; came to county and state in 1869; married Jan- 
uary 11, 1880, to Alice Bledsoe. 

Asa Carman; lives at Port Orford; is a saloon keeper; 
was born in 1831; came to state in 1871, and was sheriff of 
Curry county one term. 



520 



APPENDIX. 



Capt. Peter Caughell: lives on Smith's river, Cali- 
fornia; is captain of the tug Pelican, at mouth of Rogue 
river; he is a native of Canada, and about sixty years or age. 
His family consists of James, John, Fannie, (William and 
Mary, twins), Hugh and Robert. 

Joseph Chapman: lives in Ellensburg; is a teamster; was 
born in Monroe county, Virginia; came to state and county in 
1879; was married in 1833 to Miss Rachel Hatfield. Chil- 
dren, Carrie, Joseph, Cintha S., Katie, Barbara, Caroline, 
Perry and Edward. 

H. Clarno: lives four miles above Ellensburg; keeps a 

dairy; was born in Illinois; came to srate and county in 1873. 

John Colton: was born in Missouri; is 26 years of age; is 

married; in 1883 settled on his present farm on Flora's 

creek; post-office, Bennett. 

D. J. Collins: lives on Hunter's creek; was born in Bos- 
ton, Mass.; post-office, Ellensburg; is a stock raiser; came to 
state and county in 187 r; married Miss H. McCarty in 1850. 
Childien, James, Fannie, Jeremiah, Johanah and Katie. 

James A. Cooley: lives in Chetco valley; is a dairyman; 
post-office, Chetco; is a native of Missouri; came to state in 
1853, and to county in i860; was married in 1867, to Ma- 
tilda Stanton. Children, Minnie, Alice N., Matilda E., Ber- 
tha A., Mary E., Hester M. and Ida M. 

H. M. Cooley: lives near Chetco river; is a farmer and 
stock grower; post-office, Chetco; is a native of Missouri; 
came to state in 1853, and to county in i860; was married in 
1878, to Florence Howland. Children, Millie N., Walter 
and Abbie. 

William Cox: was born in Illinois; is 45 years of age; 
came to Oregon in 1845 an( i settled in Curry county at an 
early day; resides on Flora's creek; is married. Children, 
Sarah C, Ralph E., John I. E., Mary Ann. Effa J. and 
Davis L. 

Glenn B. Cox : was born in Polk county, Oregon, in 
1857; came to Curry county and settled on Flora's creek; is a 
lumberman. 

Charles Dewey : lives three miles above Ellensburg on a 
farm ; was born in Pembroke, Genesee county, N. Y. ; came 
to state in i860 and to county in 1862; owns a valuable mine 
on the beach and divides his time between mining and farming. 

William Ferris: lives near Port Orford; is a miner; came 
to Curry county in 1853. 

George Fitzhugh: lives at Denmark; came to state in 
1850 and to county in 1852; is married. Children, Melvin, 
Fanny, Charles, John and Robert. 

S. B. Gardener: lives near Ellensburg; is a farmer and 
stock raiser; was born in Iowa; came to state in 1853 and to 
county in 1866; was married in 1866 to Catherine Chapman. 
Children, Edwin L., Ellen M., Reuben, Delos and Viola. 

William Gauntlett: lives at Ellensburg; is sheriff of 
Curry county; was born m Scotland; came to state and county 
in 1859; married June, 1880, to Annie Winsor. Children, 
George and Clinton. 

W. S. Higgins: lives on Winchuck; is a farmer; post- 
office, Chetco; was born in Ohio; came to state in 1850 and 
to county in 1877; was married in 1858 to Miss Abbott. Chil- 
dren, Henry Robert, Emily J., Elizabeth Daisy, Martha, 
James, Rosa and Louis. 

N. Huntley: is a farmer and fisherman; lives eight miles 
above Ellensburg; was born in Ohio; came to state in 1848 
and to county in 1870; married Mary J. King in 1847. 

William A. King: was bom in Illinois; is 37 years of 
age; came to state in 1854; is a stock grower; lives on Flora's 
creek ten miles from Denmark; post-office, Denmark. 

William Kirk: lives near Chetco river; is a merchant; 
post-office, Chetco; was born in Belfast, Ireland; came to 
state and county in 1856. 

Louis Knapp: lives with his mother, who is now 80 years 
of age; is proprietor of Knapp's hotel at Port Orford; they 
were among the first settlers of that town. In connection with 
their hotel they own 1,200 acres of land. 

David Libby: lives nine miles above Ellensburg, at which 
place he owns a fine farm; post-office, Ellensburg; was born 
in Maine, in 1831; came to state and county in 1853; was in 
Indian wars of 1855-6 and fought bravely for the defense of 
his country. 

C. Long: was born in Illinois; is no,w 46 years of age; 
owns 1,000 acres of good grazing land twelve miles from 
Bandon where he is extensively engaged in the dairy business; 
is married. Children, Alice M., Rosa J., Ormelia and John M. 



Nicholas C. Lorextzen: lives near Denmark; is engaged 
in the lumber business; came to county in 1875; was born in 
Denmark, Sweden; is 38 years of age; is married. Children, 
Anna M., Lena C, Thyra H. and Camilla F. 

P. McCrerry: lives at Ellensburg; is foreman in R. D. 
Humes' cannery; was born in Ireland; came to state and 
county in 1874. 

John McVay: lives four miles from Ellensburg; is a stock 
raiser; is a native of Ireland; arrived in this state in 1867, and 
came to this county in 1868; was married to M. A. McCreery, 
in 1866. 

William McVay: lives near Chetco; is a dairyman and 
farmer; came to state and county in i860; was married in 1854, 
to Emiline McCormac. Children, Mary E., Emma, Henry, 
Benjamin, Laura, William, Minnie and Augustus. 

E. H. Meservey: resides at Ellensburg; is engaged in 
farming and is watchman in Humes mill; was born in Maine; 
arrived in the state and settled in this county in 1853; was 
Lieutenant and subsequently Captain in the Rogue river war, 
and was engaged in several bloody battles. 

W. C. Miller: lives four miles above Ellensburg, where 
he has a farm; is a native of Dayton, Ohio; arrived in this 
state in 1847, and to county in 1868; married Miss P. A. 
Turner, in May 1855. 

A. H. Moore: resides at Ellensburg; is a blacksmith by 
occupation; was born in Highland county, Ohio; arrived in 
this state in 1850, and came to this county in 1857; was mar- 
ried in i860, to Miss S. C. Morrison. Children, Frederick 
and Dora E. 

H. S. Moore: is a native of Iowa; came to Curry county in 
1876, now resides in Port Orford; is a farmer. 

S. D. Morrison: resides near Ellensburg; where he is 
employed at sheep raising; address is Ellensburg; is a native 
of Vermont; arrived in this state and settled in this county in 
1868. 

Joseph L. Na\': resides five miles north of Port Orford; 
and proprietor of Nay's Lumber mills, and owns 1,000 acres 
of land; is a native of West Miland, New Hampshire; and as 
yet unmarried. 

A. B. Sabin: is a farmer;- lives five miles from Denmark, 
Curry county; is a native of New Jersey; is married and has 
one child, Walter J. 

Raleigh Scott: lives at Mountain Ranch; is a stock 
grower; post-office, Chetco; is a native of Lane county, Or.; 
came to county in 1872; married Nettie Cooley, October 4, 
1874; Mr. Scott is an extensive stock grower — sheep a 
specialty. 

Willard F. and Walter Shoemaker: live with their 
mother, Mrs. Mary A. Shoemaker, on Knott hill, five miles 
from Denmark; own a large tract of land; were born in Mis- 
souri; are 25 and 23 years of age, respectively. 

Henry Smith: lives at Smith's Ferry; post-office, Chetco; 
is a farmer and ferry keeper; is a native of Prussia: came to 
state and county in 1857; was married in 1865 to Hanah J. 
Riley. 

Frank Smith: was born in New York; is 46 years of age; 
came to county in i860; is a retail liquor dealer in Port Orford. 
H. Strahan: resides at Ellensburg; is a sheep raiser; was 
born in Philadelphia, Penn.; arrived in this state and county 
in 1871; was married toMissMary Euberg, in 1868. Children, 
Charles G. and William H. Mr. Strahan has a good farm. 

Walter Sutton: publisher arid proprietor of the Curry 
county Post, of Ellensburg, is a native of Illinois, and in 1854 
came to Oregon, and to Curry county in 1870; married Feb- 
ruary 14, 1877, to Miss Louisa A. Smith. Children, Louisa 
A. , Walter F. and John A. 

Edward Sypher: born in Rogue river valley, in 1865, 
and has ever since resided in Curry county. 

C. W. Thomas: was born in Pennsylvania; is 53 years of 
age; is manager of the sawmill formerly owned by the Port 
Orford Cedar Co., at Port Orford, where he resides; is mar- 
ried; has three children. 

A. H. Thrift: lives on Flora's creek; is a dairyman and 
stock raiser; post-office Denmark; was born in Fredericktown, 
Knox county, Ohio; came to state in 1852, and to county in 
1853; married June 5, 1867, to Mary J. Goodman. Children, 
Annie G. (deceased), Edgar B., Rosabel, Alexander, Hattie 
A., Alvie A., Eva J., and (Eola and LeRoy twins). 

J. H. Upton: was born in Ohio; came to state in 1853 and 
in 1880 located at Port Orford, where he established the Port 
Orford Post, which he sold in 1882 and moved on his farm 



APPENDIX. 



521 



near Denmark, where in August, 1883, he established the 
Curry County Recorder; is married. Children,!. M. and Ar- 
thur \Y. 

FREDERICK UniCAN: is a resident of Port Orford; came to 
Curry county in July 1S51; has a farm three miles north of 
Port Orford. 

Pk. F. O. Vox dlr GREEN: lives at Ellensburg; is a phy- 
sician; was horn in Munich, Germany; came to state and 
county in 1S6S; was married to Miss B. C. Noon, June 6, 
1S60. Children, Mary, Blanch, Florence and Bertha. Dr. 



Von der Green is the only physician in Curry county and has 
a large and lucrative practice, and is highly respected. 

ROBERT WALKER: was born in Canada; lives at Ellens- 
burg; is engaged in merchandising; came to state and county 
in 1869; was married to Miss Mary E. Frime in 1874. Mr. 
Walker was sheriff of the county one term. 

G. B. Wilson': lives on Winchuck; is a fisherman; post- 
office, Chetco; came to state and county iu 1868; was born 
in Pennsylvania; was married in [855 to Eunice Violet. Chil- 
dren, L. F., G. F., Belle, Lizzie, Nettie and John. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



John Bolt: lives in Applegate, Jackson county; is a mer- 
chant; was born December 15, 1836, at Wildhouse, Canton 
St. Gallen, Switzerland; came to state in 1856, and to county 
in 1S57; was married October 12, 1862, to Elizabeth Richart. 
Children, George N., Ella, Emma V., Lucy A., John E., 
Fred J. and Florence A. 

RICHARD Cook: is a native of England; was born Febru- 
ary 19, 1S36; at the age of about forty years he arrived in 
this state, settling in Jacksonville, Jackson county, where he 
has since followed mining; he is at present proprietor of a 
mine in this county; Mr. Cook was married August 9, i860, 
to Elizabeth Harris. They have one son, Richard Jr. 

James W. Collins: this old pioneer was born in Pettis 
county, Mo., June 13, 1825; when seven years old his parents 
moved to Reves county, (now Henry county) in that state; 
thence to St. Clair county, and to Bates county, all in Mis- 
souri. On the 6th of May, 1830, he started for California, 
overland, arriving in Sacramento on September 1, 1851. 
He mined for gold on Feather river about two weeks, then 
went to Chico, and his uncle who resided there, gave him an 
outfit of six Indians and seven mules with sufficient provisions 
for a trip to Scott river. He remained there until February 6, 
1852, when he came to Rogue river valley, where he arrived 
the same month, sleeping the first night under an oak tree on 
the — now — Gordon ranch. Here he took a donation claim, 
where he lived until the fall of 1853, then sold out and went 
to Dry creek, stock raising. He next moved to Table Rock 
precinct, where he purchased a farm, and lived until 
coming to his present ranch near Phoenix. He claims to have 
sown the first grain in Jackson county, and erected the first 
frame house, the one now on the Gordon ranch. He married 
Martha Ann Stow on August 10, 1855. She is a native of 
Sangamon county, Illinois. 

William Hoffman: popularly known as "Father Hoff- 
man," is an early pioneer of Jackson county, and has always 
been one of her most prominent and respected citizens; is a 
native of Baltimore, Maryland; came to state and county in 
1833; was married in 1836 to Caroline Shafer. Children, 
Mary H. (Vining), Julia E. (Beekman), Annie I. (Linn), Em- 
ma A. (Dorris), Florence E. (Shipley) and Kate F. Mr. 
Hoffman was first county auditor of Jackson county, and has 
ever since held some office of trust. 

John Mavity: an early pioneer of Jackson count)', Ore- 
gon, now a horticulturist and resident of St. Helena, Napa 
county, Cal. ; was born in Ripley county, Ind., August 3. 



1829, and came to Oregon in 1852, settling in Jackson county 
in the fall of that year; in 1870 he moved to his present home 
in Napa county, Cal.; was married October 22, 1857, to Miss 
Amelia W. Hull, They have four children, viz: Katie A.. 
John M., Willis W. and Carrie B. 

Lewis Shideler: was born in Marion county, Indiana, 
on November 7, 1827. When twelve years old his parents 
took him to Carroll county, in that state, where he was edu- 
cated, and raised on a farm. Here he married Diana Harter 
on September 14, 1848. He came to Oregon, overland route, 
in June, 1870, settling in Linn county. In October 1S72, he 
moved to Jackson county, settling on his present farm. John 
H., a resident of Linn county, Oregon; Etta, Emma, Henry 
L., Alice, Lucinda, Rebecca and Frank, are his children. 

Thomas McF. Patton: an early resident of Jackson 
county, but now a member of the legal profession in Salem, 
Oregon; is a native of Carrelton, Ohio, and at an early age 
began the study of the law; a short time after his admission to 
the bar, he started for the Pacific coast, selecting Oregon for 
his future home, arriving within its borders i.i the fall of 
1851; in 1853 Mr. Patton located in Jacksonville and in that 
year was elected to the office of county judge, he being the 
first to till that position in Jackson county; two years later, on 
the expiration of his term of office, he removed to Salem 
where he has since resided. Mr. Patton was united in mar- 
riage in 1854 to Miss Francis M. Cook. 

Gustaf Wilson: is one of the early pioneers of California 
and Southern Oregon; was born June 6, 1828, in Uleaborg, 
Finland, Russia; left that country in the year 1842 as a sailor 
and came to the United States; in 1845 ^ e returned to his 
native country. The following year, October, 1846, he set him- 
self westward again, and landed in New Orleans, March, 
1849; in March, 1850, he left New York on ship Albania, 
Captain Crowell, by way of Cape Horn, for California, arriv- 
ing at San Francisco, October loth of the same year. Went at 
once to the gold mines and prospected and worked in almost 
every mining camp from Mud Springs, California, to Jackson 
county, Oregon. At the organization of Josephine county by 
the territorial legislature in 1855 he was appointed coroner 
and the year following was re-elected to the same office. In 
1862 he was elected clerk of Josephine county, and again re- 
elected in 1864; at the expiration of his second term he re- 
moved to Portland and has resided there ever since; is Vice 
Consul of Russia in Oregon. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



BENJAMIN C. AGEE was born in Osage county; Missouri, September 27, 1837. When but two years of age his 
parents moved to DeKalb county, same state, where his father engaged in farming until April 6, 1852, when he, with his par- 
ents, ten brothers and four sisters, started with ox teams to cross the plains to Oregon, some of the time being with a large 
train of emigrants, but most of the distance being accomplished alone, and after six months of continuous travel they arrived in 
Yamhill county, this state, where his father purchased land on Deer creek, and he now resides. Our subject remained under 
the parental roof until the age of 21 years. He then engaged in farming on his own account in Yamhill county until 1869, 
when he came to Douglas county and purchased his present place of 650 acres, seven miles south of Roseburg, and is now en- 
gaged in general farming and stock raising. A view of his residence will be found in this history. Mr. Agee is married and 
has an interesting family of ten children, viz.: Oscar, Rolland, Norman, Miles, Minnie, Millie, May, Asher, Rosie and Frederick. 

ANDREW G. AIKEN, the subject of this sketch a well known and popular resident of Coquille City, Coos county, 
is a native of Lawrence county, Penn., and was born January 12, 1837, and then resided on his father's farm until 16 years of 
age. March 18, 1853, he, with his two brothers, John and James, set out to cross the plains with ox teams, and after a weary 
trip of six months they arrived in this state, first locating near Albany. After a short time our subject went to Washington 
Territory, where he remained until the fall of 1854, when he again returned to Oregon, this time locating in Coos county, and 
engaged in mining near the present site of Newport. On the breaking out of the Indian war 'On Rogue river, Mr. Aiken 
joined Captain Harris' company and took part in that memorable campaign. On the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Aiken 
returned to the coal mines on the bay, and followed mining there and on Sixes river until 1858. He then engaged in the lum- 
ber business on Coos bay as partner with his brother James, which he continued until 1875, with the exception of two years 
spent in Idaho. In the fall of 1875 ne P a 'd a "visit to his old home in Pennsylvania, and on his return to Coos county in the 
spring, was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the office of sheriff of that county, a position he was elected to at the fol- 
lowing election, and two years later was re-elected to the same office. On the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Aiken 
located in Coquille City, and in 1882 built his present commodious residence, in which he now resides, a view of his home 
being placed in this work. Mr. Aiken is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, being generous and hospitable to a fault. 
He now enjoys the comforts of a happy home, and the respect and confidence of the entire people of the county in which he 
resides. He was united in marriage in Coquille City, May 25, 1874, to Miss Augusta Cunningham. By this union they have 
one son and one daughter, Charles G. and Alice O. 

ALBERT ALFORD. — The subject of our memoir is a native of Chariton county, Missouri, and born May 4, 1833. 
Here he was educated. In 1850 he crossed the plains to Oregon, accompanying his parents, who settled in Linn county, 
where he married Catherine Brinker, on December 18, 1853. She was born in Missouri, on December 24, 1838. Mr. Alford 
continued to reside in Linn county up to 1869, when he came to Jackson county, Oregon, and settled near Table Rock. In 
1874 he moved to Talent, and is now a resident of the place. He was elected county commissioner from Eden precinct in 
1880, and re-elected in 1882, which office he still holds. A view of his residence can be found in another part of this work. 
His children are: Russell A., born March 16, 1855, Masas L., born April 27, 1857, Alice, born February 13, 1859, and 
Amanda O., born February 7, 1862. 

HASKELL AMY : — Born in Vermont, on August 19, 183 1. When quite young his parents took him to Knox 
county, Illinois, where he was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools. In the spring of 1852 he crossed the plains 
to Oregon, and settled at that time in Jackson county. In the fall of 1858 he purchased his present farm and took up his 
residence thereon, where he has continuously lived to the present time. He went to Illinois on a visit via the ocean route in 
1866, returning the same year overland with a team. He married Mahala McDaniel on May 3, 1859. She died on Sep- 
tember 19, 1861. The maiden name of his present wife was Jessie Bledsoe, to whom he was married in 1874. One child by 
his first wife, whose name is Frank. Two children by his second marriage, Laura and Albert. A view of the residence of 
this old settler is in this history. 

HONORABLE LINDSAY APPLEGATE. The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was 
born in Henry county, Kentucky, September 18, 1808. In 1820 the family emigrated to Missouri and settled near St. Louis, 
then a small French village. Educational advantages were poor, and as a consequence young Lindsay had received but little 
education up to his fifteenth year, when, with a few young associates, he escaped from home and enlisted under General Ashley, 
of St. Louis, for a trapping expedition to the Rocky mountains. One division of the expedition with the heavy baggage 
ascended the Missouri river, while the remainder with pack trains proceeded by land. At the Pawnee town the river party 
was attacked and defeated by the Indians and driven back to Council Bluffs. Here young Applegate and others were taken 
sick and sent with the wounded back to St. Louis. After this he returned home, but his restless spirit longed for a more adven- 
turous life than was there afforded him, and he followed trading on the Mississippi river for a time, then worked for a while in 
the newly discovered lead mines at Galena, Illinois, and afterwards served as a volunteer in the famous Black Hawk war under 
General Whiteside. In January, 1831, he was married, in Cole county, Missouri, to Elizabeth Miller, and soon after moved to 
southwestern Missouri, where he erected the first sawmill built in that part of the state. In 1843 he crossed the plains to Ore- 
gon, and became a settler in Polk county, where in 1844 he served as a member of the first volunteer company organized to 



APPENDIX. 523 

protect the new settlements against the Indians. In 1846 he was one of the fifteen men who hunted out the South Road from 
the Willamette valley to Fort Hall. He went to the newly discovered gold mines in California in 1848, making the trip by 
land and returned the same year by water. In 1850 he raised a company and went with General Lane in pursuit and to the 
capture of the deserting regulars from Oregon City. In 1850 he moved to the Umpqua, where he served as special Indian 
agent under General Palmer. Captain Lindsay Applegate raised a detachment of Mounted Oregon Volunteers and was mus- 
tered into the service of the United States for the war against the Rogue River Indians on the 22d ot August, 1853. The 
detachment marched on the 24th of August from Winchester, Umpqua valley, to Camp Akfen near Table Rock, Rogue river 
valley, the headquarters of General Lane, and thence to Myrtle creek, Umpqua valley, where September 7, 1853, it was dis- 
charged from the service. Mr. Applegate was mustered as captain of the company and was with General Lane when the 
treaty was made with the Indians near Table Rock. In 1859 he moved to the Toll House, Siskiyou mountains, Jackson county 
and took charge of the toll road from that place to the California state line which he then owned. In 1S61, as a captain of 
the Rogue river volunteers, he went to the plains east of the Siskiyou mountains to protect the emigrants coming to Oregon. 
Mr. Applegate was selected from among his compeers to represent Jackson county in the assembly of Oregon in 1862, and 
acted under Superintendent Rector as special Indian agent for Southern Oregon. In 1864 he was interpreter at the Klamath 
and Modoc treaty and in the ensuing year was appointed sub-agent and served at Klamath until 1869, when he was removed to 
make room for a military agent. As a proof of Mr. Applegate's unswerving honesty while acting as Indian agent we quote 
from his final discharge and last settlement. "Your account for disbursements in the Indian service from January I, 1868, up 
to January 1, 1S69, has been adjusted and a balance found due you of $42.01, differing that amount from your last account, 
as explained in the accompanying statement. Signed, E. B. FRENCH, Auditor." 

There are those who believe had Lindsay Applegate remained in charge of the Lake Indians all would have gone well 
and that the bloody drama of the Modoc war would never have been played. Mr. Applegate resides at his old home in Ashland, 
Jackson county, Oregon. He has one of those restless and strong spirits which hew out the way for civilization in the wilder- 
ness and who are nevertheless willing to aid liberally in promoting the refining influences of an advancing people. 

CHARLES APPLEGATE. — This early pioneer of Oregon and Douglas county was born in Henry county, ^Kentucky, 
January 24, 1S06, and died in Yoncalla, Douglas county, Oregon, August 9, 1879. If all the eventsand experiences of this pioneer 
could be chronicled they would make interesting reading for the occupants of the happy homes that now dot the country 
which he found a wilderness and inhabited by little else than the savages and wild beast. Suffice it to say that now that 
his labors are ended, let the thronging thousands who shall enjoy this beautiful land, remember that his strong arms helped to 
subdue this far western wilderness and prepared it for civilized man. When he was 15 years of age Mr. Applegate's parents 
moved to St. Louis county, Missouri, and in 1829 our subject was united in marriage to Miss Malinda Miller, and with her and 
a small number of emigrants started on May 15, 1843, for Oregon. The fall of that year found them settled in the Willamette 
valley where he resided until 1850 when he came to Douglas county locating near the present site of Yoncalla, where he resided 
until his death. 

W. H. ATKINSON. — Among the prominent settlers of Ashland is the subject of this memoir; he was born near 
Bradford, England, November 30, 1844. When two years old, his parents emigrated to the United States, and settled in 
Onondaga county, New York. In the year 1849 the family settled in Racine county, Wis.; thence to Walworth county in that 
state in 1856, where he was married to Eugenia L. Curtis, November 15, 1868. In the year 1874 with his wife he crossed the 
plains by rail, and settled at Ashland, Jackson county. On his arrival here, he purchased an interest in the "Ashland Flouring 
mill,'' and soon after entered into partnership with General J. M. McCall, in the mercantile trade. In 1879, he became one of 
the partners, and business manager of the Ashland Woolen Manufacturing Company, which position he has maintained to the 
present writing. He has held prominent offices in the Masonic fraternity, and was one of the instigators in bringing about the 
erection of the Masonic block of Ashland. 

H. F. BARRON resides at Barron and is a farmer, stock raiser and hotel keeper. He was born in Lee county, Vir- 
ginia, and came to Jackson county, Ogn, in Oct., 1851. He was married August 18, 1856, to Martha A.Walker. Their children 
are Alice, Edgar, George and Homer. Mr. Barron, whose two residences are elsewhere illustrated in this book, possesses 
large landed and stock interests, his stock being mainly horses, cattle and sheep. 

HON. THOMAS FLETCHER BE ALL; born in Montgomery county, Maryland, on the 27th, of August 1827. He 
with his parents, moved in 1834, to Springfield, Sangamon county 111. Here was educated and resided until 1852, 
he crossed the plains with his brother R. V. Beall, with mule teams, arriving in Oregon on July 18, I852, and settled 
in Rogue river valley, at Central Point, September 27, 1852, on a donation claim. He purchased his present place, south from 
Central Point, in 1858, where he has since lived. In 1853, he was engaged in packing between Jacksonville and Scottsburg. 
On one of his return trips from Scottsburg, a Spaniard stole one of his mules. He followed him into Lane county, caught him 
and got possession of the mule, chastising the Spaniard, and on his return to Rogue river valley fell in company with General 
Lane, Pleasant Armstrong, Michael Hanly and others, taking the Kearney route. After making a three days journey, the 
party found themselves without provisions, and although it was strictly against orders to discharge fire arms, Mr. Beall came 
across a deer — after they had camped — and disobeying orders, killed the deer, brought it to camp, and fortunately for him was 
not punished other than seeing his companions partake of the deer meat. They proceeded on their journey safely to Rogue river 
valley. Mr. Beall continued the packing business until 1856, and has followed farming and stock raising since that time, he 
and his brother being the largest wheat growers in Jackson county, owning jointly and severally 2,548 acres of land. He was 
elected to the Assembly of Oregon in 1864, holding the office one term. He married Ann Hall on November 10, 1859; she is 
a native of Champaigne county, Ohio, and was born January 3, 1838. Children, Benjamin, Asbury, Clara, Carrie, Thomas, 
Lee, Tyson and Lucinda. 

ROBERT VINTON BEALL was born on the 15th of June 1831, in Montgomery county, Maryland. He with his 
parents moved to Sangamon county, 111., in 1834. Here he was educated. With his brother T. F. Beall he emigrated to 



524 APPENDIX. 

Oregon, arriving at Oregon City July 18, 1852. He came to this county on the 27th of September of that year and settled on 
his present farm south of Central Point. Here he has lived ever since with the exception of six months. He has been engaged 
in farming and stock raising. He married Ann Maria Riddle, on the 19th of April 1864; she was born in Sangamon county, 
111., on April 19th, 1847. Children, Mary and Robert V. 

HON. C. C. BEEKMAN. — The reminiscences of the early pioneers of the Pacific coast must ever possess a pecu- 
liar interest for the Oregonian. Green in their memory will ever remain the trials and incidents of early life in this land of 
golden promise. These pioneers of civilization constitute no ordinary class of adventurers. Resolute, ambitious and endur- 
ing, looking into the great and possible future of this western slope, and possessing the sagacious mind to grasp true conclu- 
sions, and the indomitable will to execute just means to attain desired ends, these heroic pioneers, by their subsequent career, 
have proved that they were equal to the great mission assigned them, that of carrying the real essence of American civilization 
from their eastern homes and planting it upon the shores of another ocean. Among the many who have shown their fitness for 
the tasks assigned them, none merit this tribute more fully than the subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work. 
He was born in New York city, January 27, 1828. He received his education in the public schools, and while yet in his 
minority he learned the carpenter's trade. In the year 1850 he sailed from New York, coming via. the isthmus of 
Panama, and arrived in San Francisco in the fall of that year. He went to Sawyer's Bar, where he was engaged as a miner; 
thence to Yreka working at his trade, after which we find him at Scott's Bar, mining; returning to Yreka, where, in 1853, he 
entered the employ of Cram, Rogers & Co., as express messenger between that place, Jacksonville and Crescent City. He 
was often obliged to cross the Siskiyou mountains under cover of darkness on account of hostile Indians. He retained this 
position until the failure of Adams & Co. in 1856, which carried down with it the house of Cram, Rogers & Co. He then 
commenced carrying express on his own account, resuming his perilous trips across the mountains until a stage road was built 
and the stages of the old California Stage Company put on the route. In 1863, when Wells, Fargo & Co. completed their 
overland connections with Portland, they tendered Mr. Beekman the agency at Jacksonville, which he accepted, and has been 
retained up to the present time with credit and ability. During Mr. Beekman's term of service as express messenger on his 
own and others' account, he has handled millions of money, and, in fact, more than any other man in Southern Oregon; and 
his retention and promotion by his employers is a sufficient guarantee for his unswerving honesty and integrity. Investing his 
earnings judiciously, Mr. Beekman has amassed a fortune, not by miserly conduct; not by oppressing the poor; not by taking 
advantage of the necessities of hib fellow men, but by strict observance to business principles, and a careful management of his 
own affairs. As a financier and a man of ability, he is the peer of any man in Southern Oregon. To prove this, if proof was 
necessary,' we call the attention of our readers to the (acts that Mr. Beekman has been repeatedly elected one of the trustees of 
Jacksonville, and for several terms held the honorable position of mayor, or president of the board. He has also held the 
office of school director for nine years, and it was mainly through his business tact that the commodious school building was 
erected, and, withal, his love for educational advancement has placed the standard of education for the young, on a plane that 
would do credit to a larger town. The year 187S will be ever memorable to him, for, without the slightest effort on his part, 
he was selected by the republican party from among his compeers and placed in nomination for governor of Oregon. This was 
a closely contested and hard fought battle. Mr. Beekman's popularity was so great that he was supported not only by repub- 
licans, but by a large number of democrat^ in Southern Oregon. He was defeated by his democrat opponent, Gov. W. VV. 
Thayer, by forty-nine votes. The closest scrutiny into the life of Mr. Beekman demonstrates the fact that no man can find a 
blemish in his character. Notwithstanding he is wealthy, you could not observe that from his conduct. He is not like many 
men of means — supercilious. He knows himself, and that is half the battle of life. He tries to do no man wrong, having 
lived up to the golden rule all his life. He resides in Jacksonville, Jackson county, one of the prettiest spots in Oregon, where 
he has made many warm friends and keeps them. He often says with Sydney Smith: " Let every man be occupied, and 
occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best." 
It were well if our young state had many such generous and enterprising men as C. C. Beekman. He married Julia E. Hoff- 
man, daughter of Wiliam Hoffman, and by this union they have one daughter and one son. 

HENRY BECKLEY. — In the gentleman whose name heads this brief sketch, we have one of Douglas county's most 
energetic, prosperous and generous business men. Mr. Beckley was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, January 4, 1833, 
and at the age of twenty years came to the Pacific coast, and arrived in Douglas county in 1859, and engaged in farming near 
the present site of Elkton. In 1864 he was married to Miss Mary M. Woodson. In connection with the management of his 
large farm, consisting of 1,700 acres, he is engaged in the saw and grist mill business, and also in the general merchandise trade 
at Elkton ; a view of his mill and store property being placed in this work. He has a family of ten children. Their names 
are : John W., James H., Charles L., Mary J., Susan K., Virlena, Margarette. Pitsor W., Jessie L. and Clyde P. 

JOHN OWEN BOOTH, is the son of Rev. Robert Booth a well known minister of the Methodist church, is a native of 
Lee county, Iowa, born January 18, 1847. When John was about five years of age his parents concluded to seek a milder climate 
than that of Iowa and selected Oregon as their future home, leaving Iowa April 13, 1852, and with ox teams set out to cross the 
plains to the Pacific coast, and after an unusually severe journey of six months they arrived at The Dalles October 7, of the same 
year. His parents first located near the Grand Ronde reservation in Yamhill county and there our subject attended school and 
resided until 1864, when they changed their residence to Sheridan in the same county until 1867 when he with his parents came 
to Douglas county first locating near Wilbur where his father now resides. There our subject finished his education and 
resided until 187 1. In June 1870, Mr. Booth was elected on the Democratic ticket to the office of county school superinten- 
dent, an office he filled to the entire satisfaction of the people. October 8, 1871, he was united in marriage to his estimable wife 
Mrs. Ann Eliza Labrie, a native of 111., by whom he has two daughters and one son, viz: Nettie Blanch born October 14, 1872, 
Annie L. born May 16, 1874, and John M. born September 17, 1876. In 1871 Mr. Booth took up his residence in Garden 
valley, since which time he has been engaged in general farming and fruit raising on his present well improved farm of 480 
acres, on which he built in 1878 a fine residence a view of which will be found in this work. 



APPENDIX. 525 

HON. BEMAN B. BROCKWAY.— The subiect of this sketch, a view of whose residence will be found in this 
work, was born in Chataqua county, New York, February 12, 1829, remaining in the place of his birth and under the parental 
roof until attaining the age of twenty-two years. Mr. Brockway then concluded to seek his fortune in the golden west, and 
consequently on April 23, 1852, he started from his home in company with his brother Burban, and came to Naperville, 111. 
At this point they secured ox teams and joining a large train there, set out to cross the plains to the Webfoot State, arriving 
in Josephine county some six months later. Our suhject then embarked in mining in the above county and Jackson for about 
eight years. He then, in i860, gave up the occupation of miner, and concluded to become a tiller of the soil, and selected 
Douglas county as his future home, and at that time purchased his present valuable farm consisting of 400 acres, located in the 
Civil Bend district, on which he has built a handsome residence and made many valuable improvements. Douglas county 
has twice been honored by the services of Mr. Brockway in an official capacity. First as a county commissioner, and at the 
June election of 1880, he was elected to the state legislature as representative of Donglas county, a position he filled with the 
utmost satisfaction to his constituents. 

HON. HENRY G. BROWN, is a prominent farmer and stock grower, living four miles west of Elkton, and pos- 
sesses a valuable farm of 1,280 acres, on which he located in 1852. Mr. Brown is a native of Coos county, New Hampshire, 
born January 15, 1833. He left New Hampshire in the spring of 1852, to come to Oregon. On arrival in this state he 
came direct to Douglas county, and located on his present farm. At the Republican convention of Douglas county in 1882, 
Mr. Brown was nominated as candidate for the legislature, and at the subsequent election was chosen by a handsome majority 
to an office he filled with ability and good judgment, and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Pricilla Stearns. They have five children, viz: Hattie S., Samuel H., Ellen M., Caroline and Marthee. A view 
of Mr. Brown's fine residence, built in 1883, is placed in this work. 

JAMES D. BURNETT, a prominent farmer and stock grower of Round Prairie, Douglas county, is a native of 
Blunt county, Tenn., and was born March 12, 1822. When 28 years of age he started for the Pacific coast and came to 
Oregon, first locating in Salem. In 1852 he came to Douglas county and settled on part of his present valuable farm, a view of 
which appears in this work, to which he has since added until now he owns some 1,200 acres of land. Mr. Burnett was mar- 
ried in Tenn., to Miss Margaret Love, by which union they had seven children, vis: Martha, Francis, Mary, Lydia, Thomas B. 
and Virginia C. the latter now deceased. 

JOSEPH CELLERS. — A well known and popular merchant of Drain, Douglas county, was born in Jefferson county, 
Ohio, June 3, 1834, and there resided until eighteen years of age. He then went west and resided in Iowa and Missouri, until 
his coming to this coast, which event occurred in 1875, and selected Douglas county as his future home. Mr. Cellers first 
engaged in farming, and a few years later started his present general merchandise store in Drain, but still retains his valuable 
farm two miles east of the latter town. An excellent view of his farm residence will be found in this work. Mr. Cellers is a 
member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, in both of which he has taken an active interest ; and is a pleasant and 
affable gentleman with whom it is a pleasure to meet. He was married in 1865, to Miss Mary J. Barber, and has a family of 
nine children. 

JOHN H. CHAPMAN, a view of whose valuable farm and residence will be found in this work, is a native of Galia 
county, Ohio, born August 15, 1825. He was married April 23, 1850, to Miss Martha A. Eells. In 1854 crossed the plains 
and came direct to Douglas county and in that year located on his present farm, situated on the banks of the North Umpqua 
river nineteen miles east of Roseburg where he is engaged in general farming and stock raising. 

ISAAC CONSTANT, born in Clark county, Ky., on the 5th of April, 1809. The family started for the state of 
Illinois about the year 1812, but stopped at Green county, Ohio, and in the year 1820 arrived in Illinois, and settled in San- 
gamon county. Here Mr. Constant lived and was raised on a farm. He crossed the plains to Oregon in 1849, and being 
pleased with the couhtry returned to Ills., in 1850. In 1852 he brought his family overland to Oregon and settled on his 
present ranch at Central Point. He married Lucinda Merryman, on the 14, of February, 1833. Mrs. Levenia Robinson, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Lever, Mrs. Julia Owens and Mrs. Maria Magruder, are his children. 

JUDGE S. J. DAY. — Silas J. Day, residence Jacksonville, occupation, County Judge of Jackson county, Oregon, 
was elected thereto in June 1876. Born in Ann Arundel county, Md., April 3, 1826; came to San Francisco, Cal., April 
1849, and to Oregon in April 1851. Married in Portland, Oregon, May 22, 1871, to Mary E. McGee, who was born in Boon 
county, Mo., November 22, 1841. Children, Mary L., Edward M., Silas E. and Elsie C. Judge Day w r aselected Orderly Ser- 
geant in Captain Miles F. Alcorns Co. "G." 9th Regiment Oregon Militia, October 10, 1855, anc ' mustered in pursuance of the 
proclamation of the Governor, to serve against the Yakima and other Indians. March 21, 1856, was promoted to First Lieut, 
of the Co., in place of James M. Matney resigned; was mustered out of service June 13, 1856. By an act of the legislative assem- 
bly of the state of Oregon, approved October 23, 1872, Judge Day was appointed one of the board of commissioners for the laying 
out and constructing a wagon road through Jackson, Grant, and Baker counties, (known as the Southern Oregon wagon road); 
he was elected chairman of the board, on its organization, and continued as such until July 1874, at which time said board dis- 
banded having completed the purposes for which it was formed. 

PHILIP DA MOTTA. — This well known tonsorial artist of Roseburg, is a native of the Cape Verde Islands, and 
some seven years ago came to Roseburg and opened a Barber Shop, when after a few years of close application to business he 
was enabled to purchase a lot on which he erected his present business building a two story frame structure, the upper part 
being used by the United States Signal Service, while the lower part he has fitted up in an elegant manner as a Barber Shop 
and Bath rooms. Mr. DaMotta has invested in land from time to time in the vicinity of Roseburg until he owns some 1,500 
acres located on the Deer creek valley road. 

B. F. DOWELL. — Benjamin F. Dowell was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, October 31, 1826. He was named 
in honor of the great philosopher, Ben Franklin, who was an uncle to his grandmother. The parents of the subject of this 
sketch were both natives of the state in which their son was born — both having been born within a mile of each other. Mr. 



526 APPENDIX. 

Dowell's mother, originally Miss Fannie Dalton, was a lady of culture and refinement, and was of Scottish descent, while the 
Dowells are traced back to English nativity. When but a child young Benjamin, with his parents, moved to Shelby county, 
Tenn., where he acquired a liberal education at the male academy. After having finished his academic studies, he returned to 
Virginia and entered the State University, where he graduated inlaw in 1847, before he was twenty-one years old. After com- 
pleting the course young Dowell went back to Tennessee, where he practiced his profession with good success until 1850, when 
he was imbued with the spirit, " Westward the course of empire takes its way," and accordingly followed the human tide into 
the gold regions of California. Having taken the cholera soon after his arrival in Sacramento, he was advised by his physician 
to fo north. Mr. Dowell started for Portland, Oregon, in a small schooner, which after being driven back to sea from the 
mouth of the Columbia, finally reached its port, seriously damaged, after thirty-five days' sailing. Mr Dowell stopped in the 
Willamette valley a short time, and then moved, in 1852, to Southern Oregon. Here he engaged in trading and packing until 
1856. In 1857 he again resumed the practice of law, settled in Jacksonville, where he still resides, and is one of the most 
widely known attorneys in the state. In 1861 our subject married Miss Anna Campbell. They have now a family of three 
children, Fannie, Annie and B. F. Jr. In 1862 he was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1865 he bought the Oregon Sentinel, 
which, under his administration, was the first Pacific slope paper to advocate the enfranchisement of the negroes, and the first 
to nominate General Grant for the presidency. 

JAMES RUFUS DODGE, was born in Lanesboro, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, August 29, 1817, and is a 
descendant of poor but honest parents that were unable to give him the advantages of a good education, but at the tender age of 
nine years James was placed as an apprentice with a Mr. Butler in his native town to learn the clothiers trade. After three 
years of faithful work at this business he concluded to try and better his condition and young as he was he was impressed with 
the belief that he could do better so he conveyed his ideas to his employer but was met with a rebuff and a contemptuous "what 
can you do?" But on consultation of his parents and employer it was agreed to let our subject try something else. His first 
venture was into the hay fields where he hired with a man for one month for which he received as compensation seven dollars ; 
with this as his capital he started for Troy, N. Y., from whence he went to Canandagua county and worked on a farm for one 
year and the following summer hired for $12 per month as a driver on the Erie Canal. And in the fall went in the employ of a 
Dr. Wells for one year at a salary of four dollars per month. His next move was to enter the employ of a manufacturing firm 
to learn the carriage and coach trimming trade but on account of a weak wrist was compelled to give this up at the end of one 
year. He then served a term of four years at the blacksmiths trade in Leroy, N. Y., receiving as salary thirty dollars per year, 
and furnish his own clothes but while others slept Mr. Dodge could be found at his forge and by night work he made an average 
salary of sixty dollars per year. On the expiration of his time he returned to Massachusetts and was employed in a rail road 
blacksmith shop, he now being a first class workman received full pay and the world began to look brighter and he continued at 
his trust in different places among which were Rochester, Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, finally locating in Montezuma, 
Indiana, here he engaged in business for himself and here it was that he formed the acquaintance of the lady who afterwards 
became his devoted companion through lifes journey. He was married on March 7, 1840, to Helen Mary Allen, a daughter of 
Dr. John Allen. He resided in Indiana for twelve years, when failing health made it necessary for him to seek a milder climate, 
so consequently on March 17, 1852, he started, with his family, towards the setting sun and crossed the great plains with 
out any serious accident and arrived in Linn county, Oregon, about the first of November, of that year. Remaining in that 
county but a short time he moved to the forks of the Santiam river and there started a blacksmith shop. After a short stay 
here he was advised by his friend Morgan Keys to come to the Umpqua country and he there settled at the mouth of Green 
valley creek on the Calapooia in what was then Umpqua county. And now for over thirty years Mr. Dodge has been a resident 
of the Umpqua valley, and since his arrival has been engaged in blacksmithing, merchandizing, farming and stock raising, being 
extensively engaged in the latter at the present time, and is now a gentleman of large means owning some 6,000 acres of 
rich farming land near Oakland, Oregon, where he resides. A view of his town and country residences will be found among the 
illustrations of this work. 

HON. CHARLES DRAIN, whose portrait, together with that of his estimable wife, very appropriately finds a place in 
this history, was born near Lancaster, Lancaster county, Penn., December 28, 18 16, and was the second son of Charles and 
Esther Wilson Drain. When Charles was but five years old his parents moved to Shelby county, Indiana, with the intention of 
embarking in agricultural pursuits. But on entering the then almost wilderness of Indiana, little did they dream what a few 
short months would bring forth, for at the end of the second month in Shelby county the head of the family was taken sud- 
denly with a congestive chill and a few days thereafter died. And six short weeks from the death of her husband the mother of 
our subject passed away. Thus the home circle was broken up, and the children, three sons and one daughter, found homes 
among strangers, and from that time the recollections of the one living (our subject) are of a transient dwelling place, sepa- 
arated from each other and of an early necessity to look to their own resources for that which other children, more fortunate, 
instinctively seek through the affections of a mother. Charles first found a home for two years with a Mr. Mitchell and then 
was adopted by Mr. John Duncan, and with him went to reside in Marion county, same state, where he lived until sixteen years 
of age. Then, on account of his guardian not being disposed to allow him to attend school, he concluded to leave and first 
found employment on a farm which he followed for the three succeeding years. He then, in 1836, went to Quincy, 111., and 
here learned the trade of plasterer and resided until 1838. He then returned to Shelby county, Indiana, and the scenes of 
his early childhood, and in February, 1839, was married, and then leased land and engaged in farming until the spring of 1842. 
We next find him with his family in Van Buren county, Iowa, engaged in farming. In the spring of 1850 Mr. Drain, like 
many hundreds of others, concluded to brave the dangers of a trip across the plains, to seek his fortune in the gold fields of 
California, and set out from his home in Van Buren county, Iowa, with some fifteen companions and with good outfits and an 
abundant supply of provisions, but being of generous disposition, qualities which he still retains, he was too free to give to the 
needy whom he met on the plains, and consequently, on arriving at the sink of the Humboldt our little party found their supply 
of provisions exhausted, and then began sufferings and privations which only those who have been placed in like situations can 



APPENDIX. • 527 

understand. Mr. Drain then followed mining at Hangtown, now Placerville, for a short time and then engaged in mercantile 
business in Nevada county, which he continued until 1 85 1, when he returned, via. Panama, to his Iowa home. But being so 
favorably impressed with the climate of the Pacific coast, he concluded to make his future home on her shores. xVpril 20, 1852, 
found him with his wife, two daughters and one son, again on the road across the piains, this time to seek a home in one of the 
fertile valleys of Oregon, and arrived in Marion county, September 20, 1S52, and settled on a farm some ten miles from Albany, 
and there followed farming for eight years. Mr. Drain, in 1854, was elected a member of the territorial council, and re-elected 
in 1S67, and on the admission of the territory into the Union as a state, Mr. Drain was elected to the state senate for four 
years, he having drawn the long term. While a member of the senate Mr. Drain was elected by his colleagues to the respon 
sible position of president of the senate. In i860 he leased his farm in the Willamette valley and resigned his seat in the 
state senate and selected Douglas county as his future home, at that time locating on his present valuable farm, then consisting 
of 320 acres, to which he has since added by purchase some 1,7000 more. In 1871 Mr. Drain donated sixty acres to the 
Oregon and California Railroad Company for depot purposes and at that time laid out the beautiful and thriving town which 
now bears his name. Mr. Drain has many warm personal friends throughout the state, and no man stands higher in all those 
principles required to mark the true man, and now, after an active life of almost three-quarters of a century, he is prepared to 
take the comforts of a well spent and prosperous life. Mr. Drain was united in marriage in Bartholomew county, Indiana ; 
February 12, 1839, to Miss Nancy G. Ensley, a daughter of John and Catherine Gates Ensley, and was born in Venango 
county, Penn., May 20, 1S17, and when eight years of age moved with her parents to Indiana, locating in the county in which 
she was married. By this union they have had eight children, five of whom are deceased. Those living are John C, the lead- 
ing merchant of Drain, and who has already been a member of the assembly for Douglas county, and while there filled the 
honorable position of speaker of the house, Catherine A., now Mrs. Simon R. Lane; and Charles D., also in the mercantile 
business with his brother. In conclusion, we would say that Mr. and Mrs. Drain have raised a family of children in a manner 
that reflects credit upon them as persons possessing practical sense. Each and every one of their children has been educated 
to look upon life, not as the idle drones upon the honey srored for them by the working bees in the hive; but as a period blocked 
out of time in which they are to accomplish something by their own acts that will not be a discredit to themselves and the name 
they bear. To Mr. Drain and men of his kind Southern Oregon owes its present prosperity and future success. 

JOHN EMMITT.— This influential and wealthy farmer and early resident of Cole's valley, is one of those who 
came to Douglas county with small means, but through industry, integrity, and correct business principles, he has accumulated 
a fortune sufficient to retire from the active pursuits of agriculture. Mr. Emmitt was born in Northumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania, October 12, 1827, and came to Douglas county, Oregon, in 1852, and at that time located on the farm where he now 
resides. The incidents that have come under Mr. Emmitt's observation, and in some of which he took a part, would not be 
least among the great mass that constitute the advance guard of civilization west of the Rockies. There are hundreds, yes, 
thousands, of similar experiences, varying only in the kind of danger or misfortune that hovered along their trail. With ore 
it was sickness, and another poverty, while a third met starvation or the Indian onslaught, and a record of them in full would 
make another Alexandrian library. Does not a pioneer deserve all the benefits that fortune has dealt out to him, and in many 
cases much that the fickle goddess has withheld ? A view of the premises where Mr. Emmitt resides is placed among the 
illustration of this work. In connectfon with his home farm he possesses a large tract of rich farming land, some four miles 
south of his residence. Mr. Emmitt was married in 1847, to Miss Caroline Thompson. By this union they had twelve 
children, three of whom are deceased. Those living are : Robert A., John F., Willie A., Letha E., Edward E., Rosaline 
M., Samuel E., Canira J. and Kittie R. 

MRS. SARAH A. FARNHAM, formerly Miss Billings, and wife of the late Allen F. Farnham, was born May 12, 
1833, in Litchfield, Maine. Here she grew to womanhood, receiving a liberal education. Local facilities did not furnish the 
means for a thorough education, such as she resolved to possess, so she went to Charleston, Mass., and entered the Female 
Seminary, where she graduated in the class of 1856. Two years later Miss Billings married Allen F. Farnham, who was 
born in Woolwich, Maine, December 7, 1822. Her husband had been a student in the Bowdoin college, but was turned from 
his purpose of takinga degree by thegold excitement in California in 1849. In May, 1850, Mr. Farnham arrived in California 
and finally reached Scott's bar, on Scott's river, Siskiyou county, where he anchored permanently, engaging in mining. Indus- 
try and enterprise, coupled with good judgment made him one among a thousand to make mining a success. The builders of 
the Eagle mills near Ashland borrowed money from him to complete that enterprise, which means were never withdrawn, but 
afterward applied on stock in the company; later, Mr. Farnham became sole proprietor of this property, which he retained and 
operated until his death, August 16, 1876. Mr. Farnham went to Jackson county, Oregon, in November, 1864, and has 
since made several trips across the oontinent. Mrs. Farnham lives in her commodious residence near Ashland, an illustration 
of which appears in this volume. The family consists of three children, Emma Eugenia, Clarence and Walter. 

JAMES L. FERREY. — In the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, we have one of Marshfield's most enter- 
prising business men; and few who sojourn in Coos county but will recognize the name as that, of one of the proprietors of the 
well known and popular hostelry, the " Blanco Hotel." Mr. Ferrey was born in Schuylkill county, Penn., February 9, 1841, 
and there resided until sixteen years of age. His parents then moved to Luzerne county, same state. At the age of nineteen 
years our subject began the carpenter's trade, at which he continued until 1862. He then, at the call of his country, enlisted 
in company A. 136th Pennsylvania volunteers, infantry,for the term of three years, serving some ten months with his regiment. 
Mr. Ferrey was then transferred to the construction corps of the western army, and at one time had charge of building roads 
and bridges. On his return from the war, Mr. Ferrey again began to work at his trade of carpenter, in different places, until 
1869, when we find him in New York city, where he was joined by his brother Joseph, who had been out to this coast, and 
returned east. By him our subject was induced to come to Oregon, arriving in Coos Bay March 1871. The first few years 
were spent in different parts of the county, and at different employments, until 1S73, when he, with S. S. Bailey, came to 
Marshfield and leased a small building for a hotel, located on the present site of the "Blanco Hotel." After ten years of 



528 APPENDIX. 

patient toil and close application to businesss Mr. F. has changed from the smail building in which he began, to his present 
commodious and first class hotel, a view of which will be found in this work. Mr. Ferrey is ably assisted in his efforts to 
accommodate by his partner, Mrs. Holland. He was married in Roseburg, Douglas county, to Miss Henrietta Trott. They 
have three children, viz: George W., Eva E. and James L., Jr. 

PATRICK FLANAGAN. — This pioneer of the Pacific coast and well known resident of Southern Oregon, is a 
native of county Antrim, Ireland, and is now in his fifty-ninth year. When eighteen years of age he came to America, and 
first settled in New York. The year 1849 found him among the Argonauts coming to the gold fields of California. He fol- 
lowed mining in that state until 1853, when he came to Coos county, and with Mr. S. S. Mann, purchased the now wellknovn 
Newport coal mines. The partnership lasted over thirty years, and to our subject belongs the greater part of the credit of 
opening and development of the Coos bay coal fields. Mr. Flanagan sold out his interest in the mines in January, 1884, to 
the Newport Coal Company, but is still retained as superintendent. Mr. F. is a genial and hospitable man, highly respected 
and honored by the community in which he lives — is married and has an interesting family of seven children. 

A. R. FLINT. — The genealogy of Mr. Flint's family extends back to Thomas Flint, whose first record appears in 
Salem, Massachusetts, in 1650 — conclusive evidence showing that his mother was there in 1642 — and that they came from 
Wales in Great Britain. A. R. Flint — the subject of this sketch — is in the seventh generation from Thomas Flint, and was 
born in North Reading, Massachusetts, August 17, 1808. While attending the Teacher's seminary, at Andover, Massachu- 
setts, particular attention was given to surveying and engineering. While there, Colonel Long, of the U. S. army (discoverer 
of Long's Peak in the Rocky mountains), permitted him, with his class, to take part in the preliminary survey of a railroad 
from Belfast, Maine, to Quebec — thus putting theory into practice. In 1846 engaged in a preliminary survey of a railroad from 
from Valparaiso to Santiago, Chili, from which place, with his family, he sailed for California, attracted by the gold excite- 
ment, ariiving in San Francisco in 1848. In 1848-9, he surveyed Goat island, and laid out what was then known as South 
San Francisco. Came to Oregon in 1850 to lay out the town of Winchester ; returning to San Francisco came again, with 
family, on the first steamer that came into Umpqua river. Was postmaster at Winchester, and also appointed clerk of the 
court by Judge Deady. Had charge of Wilbur academy in 1856-7, and of Roseburg academy one year following. Was 
appointed receiver of the land office in Roseburg, holding the position seven years ; since which time he has been principally 
employed in surveying government lands. Was married March 26, 1840, to Elizabeth Cragin, of East Douglas, Massachu- 
setts. Children, Helen Azrebah, Sarah Elizabeth, Isabel Cragin (deceased), Martha Virginia and Samuel Collins. 

JOHN CREED FLOED, prior to his death was a resident of Roseburg, and one of the most successful merchants in 
Southern Oregon. He was born in Amherst county, Virginia, in 1816, and was, therefore, at the time of his death, which 
occurred in 1883, sixty-seven years old. He was married to Miss Sarah E. Lane, daughter of Gen. Joseph Lane, July 10, 
1851, and in 1852 they came to this state arriving first at Oregon City. A brief stoppage there, and they started for the then 
wild region of the Umpqua valley, where they arrived, during the fall, at Winchester. At this place Mr. Floed entered into 
business as a merchant, being one of the pioneer merchants of this county. When Douglas county was organized Winchester 
was designated as the county seat until a suitable county seat had been selected by the citizens at the polls. Roseburg having 
been selected as county seat, Mr. Floed moved his stock of goods to that place, where he entered into business. Mr. Floed's 
success in life and business has been mainly achieved by the proper exercise of economy, industry and business integrity, guided 
by intelligent financial ability. The following are the names of his children, Mary present wife of Hon. F. P. Hogan, Emma 
(deceased), J. C. Floed, Jr., S. Fred, Lavina (deceased), and Maggie (deceased). 

JOHN FULLERTON. — This well known resident of Douglas county, was born in Warren county, Ohio, May 18, 
1820, and resided with his parents on a farm until his sixteenth year. He then went to Jacksonburg, Butler county, same state, 
and there served an apprenticeship at the wagon and plow making trade. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he moved to 
Rossville and engaged in business for himself in the manufacture of wagons and plows, doing a large and successful business 
until February, 1849, when he closed out and started for the golden state via Panama. On arriving at the latter place he was 
compelled to remain some four months, on account of the scarcity of vessels coming to San Francisco, and engaged in the 
survey of the Panama railroad across the isthmus. Arriving in San Francisco July 12, 1849, he, like most all the Argonauts, 
immediately proceeded to the mines and first worked on the American river, and later in Shasta county, until March 1851, 
when he with his present near neighbor and old friend, Hon. James F. Gazley, came to Oregon with the intention of purchasing 
cattle to drive back to the mines, but being so favorably impressed by the beauties of the country he concluded to locate, and 
t ook up his donation claim where he now resides, to which he has since added by purchase until now he has a farm of over 400 
acres, situated near Canyonville. A view of his residence will be found in this history. Mr. Fullerton held the office of 
sheriff of Douglas county from 1858 to 1862, and is a gentleman well and favorably known and highly respected by the citizens 
of the county in which he resides. Was married in Rosvislle, Ohio, December 15, 1843, to Miss Jane Rolfe, a native of Butler 
county, Ohio, by which union they have six children, viz: James C, the present receiver of public moneys of the U. S. land 
office at Roseburg; Eva, now Mrs. John O. Mocine; Addie Alice, now Mrs. Wm. R, McKenzie; Delia and John B. 

OSCAR OVID GANIARD. The subject of this sketch, whose home is illustrated in this history, is one of the 
prominent farmers and merchants of the northern part of Jackson county, and was born in Genessee county, New York, on 
January 28, 1833. He was raised on a farm until he reached the age of fifteen, and accompanied his parents to Jonesville, 
Hillsdale county, Michigan, in 1842, where the family commenced building up a new home in the wilderness. Oscar caught 
the gold fever and emigrated to Oregon in 1852, reaching Oregon City in the fall of that year and remained there a few 
months. In October, 1852, he came to Jackson county and mined on Jackson creek, but during the starvation times of 1852-3 
he was forced to return to Portland, where he remained until 1856, in which year he settled near Democrat gulch, Josephine 
county, Oregon, where he purchased a farm and afterwards established a mercantile business which he conducted in connection 
with farming. In 1858 Mr. Ganiard went to visit his parents at his old home in Michigan and married Lucinda Ganiard on 
July 5, 1858. She is a native of Rochester, New York, and was born November 10, 1838. In 1872 Mr. Ganiard became a 



APPENDIX. 529 

a resident of Jackson county, purchasing the "Leslie"' ranch in Sam's valley, and has since added to that property until he now 
owns four thousand acres of valuable land. He has a store on the place and is engaged in merchandising as well as farming. 
Mr. Ganiard is regarded as an intelligent financier, liberal in all matters where the judgment of others is to be regarded, al- 
ways according to his neighbors their full rights. He is considered one of the progressive farmers and business men of the 
county, and always interests himself in the prosperity of the community in which he resides. Their only living child is Lottie. 
Their two sons, Freddie and Oscar, died in 1883. 

ORLANDO COOLIDGE lives at Ashland, and is extensively engaged in the nursery business. He was born in 
Oxford county, Maine, and came to this state and county in 1851. In 1857 he was married to Miss Mary J. Foss, in the state 
of Illinois. One child, Minnie J. Mr. Coolidge established a nursery in Ashland in 1869. He has introduced almost every 
variety of fruit, forest and ornamental trees, also nearly every desirable variety of plants and flowers. To Mr. Coolidge's un- 
tiring energy and industry, and to Mrs. Coolidge's taste and love of flowers, is Southern Oregon indebted for very much of the 
beautiful and useful that enriches and adorns the country. Their home is a home of fruits and flowers, and is the admiration of 
every beholder. A view of this beautiful residence will be found among the illustrations of this work. 

HENRY GATES: this well known and popular resident of Roseburg, proprietor of the Roseburg Flouring mills, is a 
native of Dunkirk. N. V., born January 26, 1832: residing on his father's farm until he attained the age of 20 years. He then 
started to learn the trade of carpentering which he followed for four years. Mr. Gates then in his native town learned the 
trade of a miller. Being master of two good trades he concluded to come west and a few months later found him in Perry 
county, 111., where he worked at carpentering for some three years. In i860, he moved to Fillmore county, Minn., where he 
resided until 1870. In the early part of 1865 our subject returned to Ohio where he enlisted in Co., K. 195th Ohio Vol., and 
served during the remainder of the war being discharged December 24, of the same year. On receiving his discharge Mr. Gates 
immediately returned to his home in Minnesota. In the fall of 1870, on account of the severe winters in the northwest he con- 
cluded to seek a milder climate and selected Oregon as his future home. On his arrival here he came direct to Douglas count}', 
locating in Roseburg and for the following six years engaged at his trade of carpenter and builder. In August, 1876, Mr. Gates 
leased the Roseburg Flouring mills, and three years later purchased a half interest, the firm name being Jones & Gates. In 
June, 1882, this firm was changed by the purchase of Mr. Jones' interest by Mr. T. J. Criteser. This new firm of Gates & 
Criteser have made many valuable improvements in the old mill — as it was one of the very first mills built in Southern Oregon. 
A view of the mill, and also of Mr. Gates' residence, will be found in this work. Mr. Gates was married in Fillmore county, 
Minn., September, 1861, to Miss Sarah M. Bean, by which union they have two children, Daisy A. and Lafayette O. 

THOMAS K. GARDNER, a resident of Putnam valley, and engaged in farming; is a native of Licking county, Ohio, 
born May 15, 1843. In 1853 his parents crossed the plains to Oregon and came to Douglas county direct. His parents first 
settled on the Siuslaw, where they remained until i860, when they moved to the neighborhood where our subject now resides, 
five miles west of Drain. Here Thomas K., engaged in farming for himself in which he has been successful, now owning a 
valuable and well improved farm of 920 acres. A view of his residence is placed in this work. 

HON. JAMES F. GAZLEY. — In the gentleman whose name heads this short memoir, we have a happy combina- 
tion of lawyer, statesman and a most successful farmer. He is a man whom nature fitted in her happy mood with a combina- 
tion of qualities that could hardly fail to guide its possessor to success — qualities which especially fit him to deal with men. 
With manners suave — a disposition to accommodate, and generous promptings toward his fellows — he greets the stranger, the 
customer, or the friend, in that peculiar way which carries with it an impression of a kind wish implied, which seldom fails to 
leave a desire with the recipient to do him a favor it he can. It is a happy faculty, and it gives the possessor wdiat he deserves, 
a friendship and respect among men that is bounded only by the extent of his acquaintance. Such are the qualities of the 
gentleman of whom we write. Mr. Gazley is a native of Courtland county, New York, and first saw the light of day Septem- 
ber 12, 1822, and in that county lived on his father's farm until the spring of 1840. He with his parents then moved west, 
locating in Bradford count}-, Penn. Having the advantage of a good education, he began reading law, and a few years later 
was admitted to the bar, in which honorable profession he continued until the spring of 1849, when he concluded to seek his 
fortune in the new Eldorado. Casting aside Blackstone, with seven companions and with ox teams, made a safe transit of the 
Rocky mountains, arriving in California in the latter part of July 1849. Mr. Gazley immediately proceeded to the mines in 
Shasta county, and embarked in mining for two years with fair success. In March 1851, he, with his present near neighbor, 
John Fullerton, came to Oregon to purchase cattle with the intention of returning to California; but on passing through the 
county where they now reside, they were so favorably impressed with the advantages presented that they concluded to locate, 
and at that early date settled on the fine farm which he now possesses, located at Canyonville, Douglas county, and engaged 
in agriculture and stock raising. In 1852 our subject returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, for the purpose of bringing 
out his young wife and son, to their Oregon home. Mr. G. has always taken an active part in politics, and in June 1854, was 
elected to the territorial legislature, and again elected in 1858. In i860 he was elected to the state senate, and while there 
used his voice and influence in favor of the Union cause. In 1862 'Mr. G. was elected to the office of district attorney, for 
Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties, and was twice elected delegate to carry the presidential electoral vote to Washington 
In 1868 we again find him representing Douglas county in the state legislature. In every office that Mr. Gazley has filled he 
has always used his best endeavors for the advancement of his county and for the benefit of the state at large. It is no flattery 
to say he filled them with credit and satisfaction to his constituents and honor to himself. Mr. Gazley was united in marriage 
in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, in August 1848, to Miss Adaline Adams, a native of that state, by which union they have 
five children, viz: James F., Jr., Clarence, Helen, now- Mrs. G. W. Riddle; Minnie and Elmer. A view of Mr. Gazley 's 
place will be found in this work. 

THOMAS J. GILLAM was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1833. When he was six 
years of age his parents removed to Virginia, and there resided until 1840, when they moved west, locating in Henry county 

Iowa, and embarked in farming. In April, 1852, he, with his father (his mother having died during their residence in Iowa), 
68 



530 APPENDIX. 

two sisters and three brothers, started with ox teams for Oregon, and arrived at The Dalles October 7, and from there came 
direct to Douglas county. Locating at Winchester he engaged in farming, and for two years was a partner with Mr. John 
Aikin, Sr., in a ferry at that place. About 1868 Mr. Gillam purchased a farm of 700 acres in Garden valley, where he resided 
until 1880, when he leased his farm and removed to the town of Wilbur, induced to do so to secure the advantages of a 
better school. Purchasing some twenty-five acres of land adjoining the town, he built a beautiful residence, where he now 
lives. A view of his dwelling will be found in this volume. Mr. Gillam was married Sept. 15, 1859, to Miss Elizabeth 
Ingram. They have four children: James C, Minnie L., John and Emily. 

JOHN L. GRUBB — a view of whose residence is placed among the illustrations of this work — was born in Louisa 
county, Iowa. When but a small boy, Mr. Grubb emigrated with his parents, in 1852, to Jackson county, Oregon, On attain- 
ing his majority our subject engaged in farming for himself, to which he has since added stock raising. The latter pursuit he 
is now largely engaged in on his farm near Jacksonville. 

GEORGE V. GURNEY. The subject of this sketch, who in partnership with his brother, J. W. Gurney, owns and 
operates the sawmill, a sketch of which appears in this work, known by the name of Gurney mill, which is situated on Bear creek in 
Ten-mile valley, Douglas county, was born in Lee county, Iowa, on December 22, 1851. At the age of seven years he was 
taken to Oregon and settled among the first arrivals in the district of Ten-mile. Mr. Gurney was married January 1, 1876, to 
Miss Jane Fisher. Mr. Gurney, by the exercise of industry, enterprise and good judgment, has acquired a first-rate financial 
standing among the people of Ten-mile, and has done much to develop the resources of that section. He possesses, in addi- 
tion to the mill property, a farm of 280 acres. Mrs. E. (iurney, the revered mother of the above named gentleman, now re- 
sides a mile distant from the mill. An elegant illustration of her well cultivated homestead appears herein. This farm may be 
said to be one of the principal ornaments in the vicinity of Ten-mile. 

HON. BINGER HERMAN. — Mr. Herman was born in Lonaconing, Pennsylvania, in 1843. The son of that Or. 
Henry Herman, who, as narrated elsewhere in this work, founded the colony of Baltimore immigrants on the headwaters of 
the Coquille. The son received a suitable education at various country schools, and at the Irving college in Winchester, Md., 
graduating from the latter institution at the age of seventeen. In 1859 the Hermans set out with about twenty other families, 
like themselves of German descent, and after a long voyage came to Port Orford, and eventually found their way to the fertile 
and beautiful country about the south fork of the Coquille, and there located permanently, colonizing the region and doing 
their utmost to bring out its capabilities. Binger Herman, in i860, being then eighteen years old, opened a school for the 
instruction of the neighboring youth, it being the first ever established in the Coquille valley. A short time later we find him 
pursuing his profession of teaching in Yoncalla valley, and in Canyonville. Successful as a teacher, he was not satisfied with 
the inducements the pursuit offered, and in 1865 he turned to the profession of the law and began preparation for that arduous 
yet successful career which he has since followed. In 1866, he was admitted to the bar, and in the same year received his first 
civic honor in being elected to the lower branch of the legislature of Oregon. Shortly after, Mr. Herman proceeded to San 
Francisco and entered the law office of Hon. John B. Felton, the great civil lawyer, and continued there his studies in juris- 
prudence, with rhe greatest profit. In 1868 he was elected joint senator for Douglas, Coos and Curry counties, and three years 
later was appointed by the president Receiver of the Roseburg land office. This position he held for two years, relinquishing it 
to enter upon the practice of the law at Roseburg, which he has since pursued with success and an increasing reputation. Mr. 
Herman was married in Douglas county in 1868, to Miss Flora Tibbetts. They have four children: Cyrus, Schiller, Milton 
and Mabel. 

PATRICK HUGHES. The subject of this sketch is a native of Ireland, and at the age of seventeen years emi- 
grated to America, locating in Massachusetts. He came to California in 1856, where he engaged in mining until 1857. He 
then came to Oregon and located on his present ranch, now consisting of two thousand acres, where he is largely engaged in 
the stock and dairy business, near Cape Blanco Light House, and a short distance from Sixes river. Mr. Hughes is married 
and has seven children: Edward T., James S., John C, Thomas P., Francis J., Alice J. and Mary E. 

HENRY JONES was born in Preble county, Ohio, April 27, 1827, and there resided until 1852, when he came 
across the plains to Oregon direct to Douglas county and engaged in agriculture and stock raising on the farm where he resides, 
now consisting of 680 acres, located on Myrtle creek, three miles from the town of Myrtle Creek. A view of this fine farm 
will be found among the illustrations in this work. Mr. Jones is a gentleman highly respected in the community where he lives. 

JOSEPH JONES; this well known farmer of Looking-glass district, a view of whose handsome residence appears in 
this work, is a native of Gurnsey county, Ohio, and was born February 20, 1840. When but eight years of age his parents 
started to cross the plains to the Pacific coast, but on arriving in Marion county, Indiana, were persuaded by relatives to dis- 
continue their trip and remain in the latter named county. Mr. Jones' father then located on a farm on which they resided for 
four years. April, 1852, he, with his parents and six sisters, again started to complete their interrupted trip. When near Fort 
Laramie the family sustained an irrepairable loss in the death of the mother. They finally proceeded on their way and arrived 
in Portland in November. After a short residence our subject started for Astoria where he remained two years. In the spring 
of 1855, came to Douglas county, where he has since resided with the exception of four years from 1862 to 1866 spent in the 
mines of Idaho. On his return Mr. Jones again took up farming and in the fall of 1 88 1 purchased his present beautiful and 
valuable farm located on 1 ,ooking-glass creek, three miles from the town of Looking-glass, where he now resides, highly 
esteemed by his neighbors and the people of the county in general. Mr. Jones, was united in marriage, in the French Settle- 
ment, October 27, 1867, to Miss Roena Wright, daughter of John W. Wright, a highly respected citizen of Douglas county. 
They have a family of six children, viz: Joseph E.. Emma, John M., Ralph, Sarah R. and Elizabeth. 

HENRY KLIPPEL; born in Germany, December ji, 1833. His parents brought him to America when four years old, 
and settled at Cincinnati, Ohio. His father died here and the family moved to St. Joseph, Mo. In 1851, Mr. Klippel crossed 
the plains to Oregon, arriving August 16th, of that year. After remaining in the Willamette valley about six weeks, he came 
across the state to Yreka with a gentleman who was going to that place; arriving in the fall. Here he mined during the winter 



APPENDIX. 531 

and in February, 1852, came to Jacksonville, Jackson county. lie mined first at Galice creek, Josephine county, but soon 
returned to Rich Gulch where he engaged principally in mining until 1857, after which time he followed various occupations 
until i860, when the Gold Hill mine was struck. lie then gave this mine his entire attention and put up on that mine the first 
quartz mill built in Oregon. In 1864 he went to Idaho and mined successfully — returning in the fall of that year. In 1868, 
engaged in the hardware trade in company with Win. Hoffman. This business he followed for six years. At the incorporation 
of Jacksonville, he was elected recorder, and afterwards president of the board of trustees. In 1870 was elected sheriff of 
Jackson county, holding the office one term. In 1872, he was appointed one of the capitol commissioners, and after the first 
year was elected president of the board. In 1874, the legislature met, and Mr. Klippel was elected to the office of capitol com- 
missioner, and resigned about November, 1874. Returning to Jacksonville, built another quartz mill with Mr. Beekman on the 
Jewett claim. He was also one of the discoverers of the Emeline cinnabar mine, which yielded a fair per cent, of quicksilver. 
In 1S74, he was chairman of the democratic state central committee and in 1876 nominated for a Tilden elector. In 1872, he 
was nominated by the democratic party to represent Jackson county in the legislature, but was defeated. In 1877, he with a 
company built a water ditch from Swan Lake to.the mines they owned on Applegate and run a hydraulic mine. These mines 
he took charge of after the completion of the ditch, and followed this business until 1880, when he was elected county clerk; 
re-elected in 1882 and is the present incumbent. Mr. Klippel married Elizabeth J. Bingham, January 24th, 1S60, and they 
have five children living. 

GENERAL JOSEPH LANE.— Joseph Lane was born in North Corolina on the 14th of December, 1801. The 
years of his childhood and youth were spent in the family circle of his father, who was for some years a resident of Henderson 
county, Kentucky. At the age of twenty years Joseph Lane married Miss Polly Hart, and settled in Vanderburg county, In- 
diana, and there for more than twenty-five years led the life of a farmer. At that early age he began to assume prominence 
among men, and his mental and moral qualities were recognized by his fellow-citizens, who made him their representative in the 
legislature of the state of Indiana, and he filled this position during nearly all his residence among them. When the Mexican 
war began, State Senator Lane resigned his seat and made preparations to take part in hostilities, and was elected colonel of 
the second regiment of Indiana Volunteers, then on its way to the seat of war. Before his departure he received a commission 
as Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and was ordered to report for duty at General Taylor's headquarters at Brazos, Texas. 
During the campaign which preceded the battle of Buena Vista, General Lane was actively employed and in the glorious vic- 
tory achieved by the American troops he took a very important part, commanding the left wing of Taylor's army. He was se- 
verely wounded by a bullet in the shoulder, but, in spite of pain, remained upon the field until victory was assured. Distin- 
guished by his conduct in this battle, and praised by his commander, General Lane immediately attained a position in the pub- 
lic estimation second to no other officer in the service. The period of enlistment of his brigade had now expired, and the 
General accompanied it to New Orleans, where the troops were mustered out. This duty performed, he returned to General 
Taylor's army, but was almost immediately ordered to join General Scott, who was now on his celebrated march from Vera 
Cruz to Mexico. General Lane, leading a brigade composed of the Fourth Ohio and Fourth Indiana Volunteers, with several 
independent organizations, numbering, altogether, 3,000 men, set out upon his march to reinforce the American army then 
fighting its way, step by step, from Pueblo to the City of Mexico General Lane's services were arduous in the extreme. The 
route swarmed with guerrillas and organized bodies of Mexican troops, who resisted his advance and were successfully defeated 
by him at Huamantla, on October 9, 1847; at Atlixco on the 19th of the same month, and at TIascala on the 29th. Matamoras, 
fifty-four miles from Pueblo, was taken by assault on the 22nd of November, and on the 14th of December the headquarters of 
(ieneral Scort were reached. Subsequently, General Lane and his soldiers were actively employed in the closing battles of the 
war, and in clearing the country of guerrillas. In January, 1848, an attempt was made by his division to capture General 
Santa Anna, but unsuccessfully. General Lane took Orizaba in the same month, and on the 24th of February defeated the in- 
famous Padre Jarauta, the guerilla chief, at Tehualtaplan. This action closed the war, and the General returned to the 
United States, having attained an enviable reputation as a military officer, and, what was dearer to him, the unbounded regard 
of his fellow soldiers. It has been customary to call him the "Marion of the Mexican war" — a fit designation for an officer so 
bold, courageous and full of resources, and withal so patriotic in mind and acts. The government's appreciation of his 
career was marked by the bestowal ef the rank of Brevet Major General of Volunteers, his commission dating from the battle 
of Huamantla. It has well been said that no officer of his rank who served in the Mexican war rendered such important ser- 
vices to his country or gained greater fame by his abilities and courage. Returning to his quiet and peaceful home in Indiana, 
General Lane sought rest from the fatigues of military life, amid the pleasant surroundings of his rural abode. But he was not 
destined to remain long in inactivity, for his unsolicited and unexpected appointment to the governorship of the newly organ- 
ized territory of Oregon, drew him from his former mode of life and cast his lot with those who were henceforth to be his fellow 
citizens. He came to the Pacific slope by way of New Mexico and Arizona, accompanied by a military escort and arriving in 
San Francisco in February, 1849, took passage to the Columbia on a sailing vessel and arrived at Oregon City, on the Wil- 
lamette, or the evening of March 2, 1849, an d ne xt day issued his proclamation as governor of the territory of Oregon — her 
first and by far her most distinguished executive. The duties of his office were discharged with uncommon tact and justice un- 
til in August of the following year, when, a new political party having come in power, his successor was appointed. The Gen- 
eral now spent a short tim&as a miner in Northern California and also participated in Kearney's campaign against the Rogue 
River Indians in 1851. In the latter part of that year he was chosen territorial delegate to Congress. In 1853 he distinguished 
himself greatly in the Rogue river war of that year, and he received a severe wound at the battle of Evans' creek. The subse- 
quent treaty with the savages was brought about largely through his influence, as related elsewhere. Subsequently, until the 
admission of Oregon into the Union, General Lane served the people, as their delegate in Congress, with distinguished fidelity. 
In 1857 the state festified her appreciation by his election as United States Senator, a position which he held until 1861. In 
i860 the Democratic convention at Baltimore nominated the popular General and Senator for the office of Vice-President of 
the United States on the ticket with John C. Breckenridge. The details of the ensuing canvass are, after the lapse of over 



532 APPENDIX. 

twenty years, still fresh in the popular mind. General Lane's political beliefs led him to throw the weight of his influence in 
favor of the South, in the beginning of the mighty struggle that was about to commence, and yielding to his honest convictions 
of justice and right, he retired to his home near Roseburg, and never again entered public life. The remaining years of Joseph 
Lane's career were spent on his farm and in the bosom of his family. Having withdrawn from politics and from the public service of 
his fellow men, he concentrated upon agricultural pursuits the powers of mind and energies which had distinguished him in 
previous occupations. His character may be compared to that of Washington, who was content to hide in the placid retreat of 
Mount Vernon the qualities which had shone in the highest station. Not having had the advantages of a thorough education in 
his youth, the General, at the age of three score, set about making up the deficiency by a course of systematic study, and by 
most uncommon perseverance and resolution acquired a store of the most valuable of all learning, the facts which modern 
science teaches. In such a manner the General passed the later years of his life, surrounded by his children and grandchildren 
who were bound to him by ties of more than ordinary affection and regard. In the exercise of the most cheeriul hospitality 
and in the society of his relatives and friends, the fitting termination of a life so eventful and laborious was rounded to com- 
pleteness. His work was done, and as his long and well spent existence drew to a close, it was with no thought of regret at 
wasted opportunities that the old General looked back upon the dead years. Joseph Lane died in April, 1881, having nearly 
attained the great age of eighty years. He left but few of his companions behind him, and of all the officers who reached 
eminence in the Mexican war, he was the last to bid adieu to earth. General Lane was a man whose unyielding integrity, sub- 
jugation of personal prejudices and determination to speak the truth under all circumstances, were the rarest things in political 
or public life. His perfect frankness did not take the form which it assumes in worse balanced minds of a desire to speak un- 
palatable truths in season and out of season. Perhaps there never was a politician who was so little of an egotist, and whose 
judgment was so little swayed by personal feelings. He belonged to that class of statesmen who deal with persons rather than 
with principles, but he showed little ambition to be merely a popular statesman. The student finds in his life much that is 
commendable — unbounded patriotism, integrity that has never been impeached, and a wise judgment that always left his con- 
stituents satisfied. In all his intercourse with the world there were acts of the finest and most delicate feeling which may well 
command the respect and admiration of all. Never acting for effect, but always consciously and laborously striving for the 
good of others. This great patriot, whose career was so manly and noble as any that have ever been enacted, attained, with- 
out seeking it, a place in the hearts of his countrymen, which the masters of popular applause might envy. He who has now 
gone from among his kindred, full of years and of honors, was a good and a great man, genial in his nature, wise in judg- 
ment, truthful to the last degree, and doing with might whatever his hand found to do. 

CAPT. JOSIAH B. LEEDS. — The subject of this sketch was born in Leedspoint, Atlantic county, New Jersey, 
December 1, 1829, and is a son of Clayton and Jemima (Higby) Leeds. His father being a native of Leeds, England, and for 
forty-seven years a sailing master on the briny deep. Our subject learned his vocation from his father, with whom he went to 
sea when but eight years old. From 1837 to 1865, he followed a seafaring life, filling every position on board a vessel from 
cabin boy to master, attaining the latter position when twenty-two years of age. In June, 1851, Captain Leeds sailed into 
San Francisco, as mate of the schooner Frances Helen — his eldest brother being captain. On arriving in the metropolis of 
California, Josiah was made master of the above named schooner, and engaged in the coasting trade. May 10, 1853, he 
crossed the Umpqua bar and arrived for the first time at Gardiner, where he now resides. At that time but one house was 
standing where now is a thriving town. In the fall of 1865 Captain Leeds concluded to give up the sea and settle on 
terra firma. He selected the present townsite of Gardiner for his future home, and in that year purchased some 300 acres of 
land. In 1876 he laid out the town, and in partnership with G. S. Hinsdale and Edward Breen, began the erection of the 
well known Hinsdale mills, now the property of the Gardiner Mill Company. In 1882 Mr. Leeds severed his connection with 
the Hinsdale Mill Company and has since been engaged in the stock and butchering business. After many years of toil on 
land and sea he is anchored in a snug harbor, surrounded by the comforts of a happy home. Mr. Leeds was united in mar- 
riage in San Francisco to Miss Eliza Bartholomew, a native of Pennsylvania, by which union they had a family of eight 
children, four of whom are living, viz: Mary K., Clayton J., Bertha J. and Ida E. A view of Mr. Leed's residence is among 
the illustrations of this work. 

D. A. LEVENS, a leading and wealthy citizen of Douglas county and a resident of Canyonville; is one of the men 
whose success in life and business has been mainly achieved in the country where he now lives by the exercise of economy, 
industry and business integrity, guided by intelligent financial ability. He is now a capitalist, who twenty years ago was a poor 
man. What he has came gradually through those years as the result of correct business calculations, and not by chance of the 
favorable turn of fortune's wheel. Mr. Levens was born in Erie county, New York, October 5, 1828, and is the son of Abiel 
and Rhoda (La Suer) Levens. When Mr. Levens was six years of age his father died. His mother continued to manage the 
farm in New York until 1845, when she sold out and with her family (our subject then being seventeen years old) emigrated 
west, locating on a farm in DuPage county, Illinois, where D. A. remained until March, 1852. With one companion and 
horse teams he started for California, across the plains. After a few weeks out they joined a large train bound for Oregon, and 
by them was induced to change his course and come to this state; but on his arrival he concluded to continue on to California. 
For four years he mined around Yreka with good success. Having concluded to engage in farming and stock raising, and being 
favorably impressed with the advantages of Douglas county on his trip through on his way to the mines, he now returned to 
locate within her borders. He first purchased 320 acres of land where now stands the village of Galesville, and there formed 
the nucleus for his present large business. In 1868 Mr. Levens began merchandising in Canyonville, in which he continued 
until 1880, when he retired from mercantile business to give his entire attention to the management of his large estate, now 
consisting of 4,500 acres of land. He is successfully and extensively engaged in the raising of horses and cattle, having large 
herds of each in Eastern Oregon. In 1882 Mr. Levens built his elegant hotel at Galesville — a view of which will be found in 
this history. At this place, in connection with his sons Douglas and Henry, he is engaged in general merchandising. Mr. Levens 
held the office of county commissioner from 1868 to 1870. He was united in marriage in 1855, to Miss Fannie I. White, a 



APPENDIX. 533 

native ot Michigan, by which union they have a family of four sons and one daughter. Theii names are: William, Douglas, 
Henry, Jessie ami Grant. 

CONSTANTINE MAGRUDER; born in Green county, 111., on the 18th, of May, 1835. Parents left in 1838 for 
Andrew county, Mo., where they resided until 1844, in which year they came to Oregon; settled at Oregon City and lived there 
until the fall of 184S. That fall Mr. M. went through this valley on his way to the gold mines on Feather river, Cal. Next 
spring returned to Oregon by water, and in 1849 went back to California. In the spring of 1850 returned to Oregon, and in 
the spring of 1S51 went through the valley for the third time on the way to the gold mines at Vreka. Followed mining at Yreka 
and in Northern California and Southern Oregon until August 1S54, when he finally settled in this valley. Married April 21st, 
1S75, to Miss Marjary E. Constant, of Central Point, also a native of Sangamon county, 111., and who crossed the plains in 1852- 
Went jinto a mercantile business at Central Point in October 1868, where he still resides. His father took up a donation claim 
on Foot's creek in August, 1854. His mother died near Oregon City, March 9, 1846; and his father, in Jackson county Tuly> 

7- 1S75- 

FREDERICK MARK. The well known furniture manufacturer of Marshfield, Coos county, is a native of Copen- 
hagen, Denmark, born June 19, 1S30. At the age of fourteen Mr. Marks began to learn the cabinet maker's and piano manu- 
facturer's trades both of which he mastered, and worked at different places in Europe for thirteen years. When 32 years old he 
returned to Copenhagen, a master workman. He concluded to start in business for himself and opened a furniture factory in 
the above place where he remained until July 1867, he then came to America and worked at his trade in Chicago for four years. 
In May, 1S70, Mr. M. came to San Francisco and a few weeks later to Portland, where he worked in the Oregon Iron Works as 
pattern maker for two years. In February 1873 he came to Marshfield, Coos county, and started a furniture factory and in the 
fall of that year puchased his present property on which stands his residence and factory consisting of ovei half a block and 
bounded by Front, Church and Pine streets. A view of his property will be found in this work. Mr. Mark was married in 
Copenhagen, to Miss Mary Eickworth, a native of Bremen, they have one daughter, Jennie. 

WILLIAM M. MATHES, whose home — one and a half milles northeast of Phcenix — is illustrated in this volume, 
was born in Westmoreland county, Penn., November 9, 1829. At the age of eight years his father died, when his mother with 
the children removed to Huntington county, on the Juniatta river, and from thence, when William was twenty, came to Fulton 
county, 111. In 1852 he crossed the plains to Oregon. At John Day's river his company was broken up and managing to 
secure a pony on which to pack his clothes and a single blanket he procured two pounds of flour and started out by himself to 
complete the journey. Arriving in the neighborhood of the Deschutes river he learned of a new crossing and hurriedly hearing 
the directions pushed forward hoping to cross before night. But losing the way he traveled on, he new not whither, until late in 
the night. Finally all appearance of a road disappearing, and groping his way through darkness and brush he espied what 
seemed to be an impenetrable gloom of darkness just in front of him. Deeming it wise to halt here for the balance of the night, 
and hastily fastening the pony to a tree, he wrapped himself in his blanket and was soon in the arms of morpheus. At early 
dawn he awoke from his slumbers and was horrified to find himself on the very- brink of a huge precipice whose yawning cavern 
below was the impenetrable gloom of the night before. On the iSth day of August, he left Barlows in a rain which increased 
in violence all day and continued all the succeeding night. At nightfall he came across a camp of emigrants consisting of one 
man and his wife and seven children and also the grandmother of the children. Of the team, " one ox " only was alive. The 
women and children were all piled in the wagon. The man was trying to keep comfortable by a log fire he had kindled for the 
purpose. Here Mr. Mathes concluded to spend the night and with this unhappy emigrant kept sleepless watch all that night of 
storm and rain without food or shelter — the pony sharing the fire with the men, turning first one side and then the other to the 
fire. At early dawn the journey was resumed, and breaking a piece of bread from the cake he had made of his two pounds of 
flour, he ate it as he traveled. At ten o'clock he encountered a company of emigrants from Peoria, 111. Arriving at this place 
the evening previous, eleven of their horses, poor from the long trip of scanty feed, exhausted from the travel, and chilled by the 
rain of the previous day, had perished during the night. Still pressing on, at the crossing of a rapid mountain stream he saw 
two men leading and supporting a poor horse upon whose back a woman and three children were being carried across the water, 
and to their destination, all other means of travel having been previously lost in the terrible journey. This day he crossed Little 
Sandy, whose swollen waters carried him and his pony some distance below the ford where it was with great difficulty that the 
latter made the land. The rain having ceased, the second night was spent in comparative comfort, barring hunger. Here the 
balance of his little store of provisions was eaten. The next evening he arrived at Foster's where there was plenty to eat, and 
his sufferings for the time being were at an end- -but not the journey. Starting from home for the mines, he never stopped until 
he reached them at Jacksonville in September of that year, (1852). From Jacksonville he went to Jackass creek where he spent 
the memorable winter of 1852-3, living for two months on very poor venison without salt, even. Returning in the spring to 
Jackson creek he barely escaped striking a fortune there, which so disgusted him that he left the mines forever and settled on 
the land where he now resides, in May, 1853. In 1861, Mr. Mathes returned to the Atlantic states; was married October 3rd 
of that year and with his wife returned to Oregon and the homestead in 1863. In 1873, he returned to Wisconsin and brought 
his mother to the coast. Mrs. Mathes' maiden name was Christina Riddle. She was born in Edinburg, Scotland, January 
16, 1842. The children are Harry G., Bertha L., Mary S., George W., Jessie A. and Donald Clyde. 

GENERAL JOHN MARSHALL McCALL, who represented Jackson county in the assembly in 1876, and 
whose portrait appears in this work, to use the language of Professor Huxley, is "a man so trained in youth that his body is the 
ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that as a mechanism it is capable of; whose intellect is 
a clear, ^ogical engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order, ready, like a steam engine, to be 
turned t:> any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind." And this, indeed, is the man 
so familiarly called General McCall. He is, so to speak, one of those men whose brain is well proportioned to his body. He 
never stops to consider trifles, and never reaches after the impossible or impracticable. He gives proper attention to the 
details of his business, but would not like to be detailed to do so. He has a powerful mind, and what adds to its strength is 



531 APPENDIX. 

the fact that it is his own. It will not brook insult nor be dictated to. It abhors presumption and detests flattery. In short, 
he is a self-made man. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on January 15, 1825. He emigrated to Louisa 
county, Iowa, in 1842, and from there crossed the plains with ox teams to Oregon in 1850, and in the year 1852 settled in Jack- 
son county. It was in 1859 he located at Ashland, where he purchased an interest in the Ashland Flouring Mill. The year 
1861 will be ever memorable as the period when a great dissension between two vast sections of the country threatened the dis- 
memberment of the nation. The consequence was, that in many places throughout the coast, military regiments were organ- 
ized for the emergency that was expected to arise at any moment. Among other organizations of this character, the 1st Ore- 
gon cavalry was raised, and the subject of this sketch was the first to respond. He was commissioned second lieutenant of 
company"D," and in 1865 was promoted to captain. It was during this year that he commanded an escort to B. J. Pengra, 
that gentleman having in charge a surveying party in laying out the wagon road from Eugene City to Stein Mountain. General 
McCall remained with the party at Fort Klamath, and in the following spring was honorably discharged at Vancouver, and 
immediately returned to his old home at Ashland. In the spring of 1867, at the solicitation of many citizens of the place, he 
founded tbe woolen mills, which to-day is one of the prominent enterprises of Ashland. In 1883 he was commissioned briga- 
dier-general of the Oregon Stale Militia by Governor John L. Moody, which position he has maintained to the present writing. 
General McCall has been twice married; the first was to Miss Theresa R. Applegate, on April 30, 1868. The second was to 
Mrs. M. E. Brown, nee Mary E. Anderson, on July 4, 1876. His children are: Lydia T., Elsie May and John A. 

DAVID C. McCLALLEN was born in Essex, Chittenden county, Vermont, October 27, 1829, and there resided 
until seventeen years of age. He then went to Kingsville, New York, and entered a large manufactory there as apprentice to 
the carriage makers' trade, at which he served a regular term of four years. He then concluded to go west, and located in 
Urbana, Illinois, and there engaged in the carriage and wagon making business until May, 1859, when with his wife and one 
son, he started via. New York and Panama to Oregon. After a voyage of some two months they arrived within the borders 
of Douglas county, first settling at Oakland, where he again engaged at his former business until 1865." After engaging in the 
hotel business in Canyonville for two years, he transferred his interest to Roseburg, and in 1867 purchased the "Metropolitan 
Hotel" of that place, and was himself its genial landlord until 1875, when he retired from business and leased his hotel. At 
the present time he is taking the comforts of a prosperous life, mainly engaged in looking after his real estate interests in the 
town. A view of "The Metropolitan" will be found in this work. There are but few of the residents of Douglas county who 
do not know D. C. McClallen, and few men stand higher in the community in which he lives, as he is justly known for his uni 
form kindness and generosity. Mr. McClallen was married in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October I, 1857, to Miss Electa Bur- 
dick, a native of New York state. By this union they had eight children, three of whom are living, viz: Harry, Ernest and Roy. 
JOHN MURPHY. — A little way off the road leading from Ashland to Major Barron s, and nestled among the 
mountains, is the home of this old pioneer. It is a lovely spot and we have selected it as one of the illustrations in these 
pages. John Murphy was born in county Cork, Ireland, in December, 1820. He came to the United States in May, 1847, 
and located in Orange county, New York; thence to Iowa in 1852, settling in Lee county. The following year he crossed the 
plains to Oregon, with some of the settlers who are now his neighbors, and located in Jackson county. After working for a 
short time at the Mountain House ranch, he settled on his present farm which consists of twenty-two hundred acres. In 1853 
Mr. Murphy joined Captain Williams' company and engaged in the war with the Rogue River Indians, remaining until its close - 
In 1854 a band of marauding Indians came near Mr. Murphy's house, where they killed an ox belonging to Myron Sterns. A 
party of settlers followed the Indians, and coming up to Murphy's cabin and not finding him there they supposed he had been 
killed. But when they had proceeded a little way up the creek there was Mr. Murphy planting potatoes and he knew nothing 
of the Indians having been in the neighborhood. The subject of our sketch joined the settlers, who followed the trail of the 
Indians to Grizzly Rock, put them to rout and broke up their camp at that place. In July, 1858, Mr. Murphy went to San 
Francisco and married Mary Goodwin. Mrs. Ann Murphy, the mother of the subject of this sketch, is now residing near 
Ashland with her daughter and enjoys good health, her reasoning faculties are well preserved and she is now ninety-two years old. 
W. C. MYER. — W. C. Myer and Elizabeth Nessly were born in Jefferson county, Ohio, the former April 22, 1818, 
and the latter June 17, 1820. They were married on the 3rd of April, 1849, and set out immediately for Iowa, to which place 
Mr. Myer in company with his father's family, had removed in 1843. In 1853 the numerous Myer family, including the subject 
of this sketch, took up the line of march to the Pacific, arriving in Rogue river valley on September 3rd, of that year, and set- 
tling three miles north of Ashland. Engaging in the stock business Mr. Myer soon found himself surrounded with a large herd 
of horses. Wishing to improve the stock of this herd he went East in 1865, and brought out the noted horse Capt. Sligart. In 
1869, not altogether satisfied with his adopted home, and desiring to find a market for his rapidly increasing stock, he deter- 
mined to return to the Western states, which he reached in the autumn of that year and settled in Kansas. Here he disposed 
of his horses and betook himself to farming. One year, however, of the climate of that country, with its doubtful crops satis- 
fied him that he had made a great mistake and turned his longing eyes and glad feet again toward the Pacific. During his 
Kansas experience however he never for a day even — forget his favorite — the horse. Industriously searching the records and the 
country, he found his ideal in the Percheron, and hastily selling his Kansas farm, bought White Prince, Doll, Maggie and Perche 
and returned to this country December, 1870. So rapid was the increase of this stock and so great the demand for it, that Mr. 
Myer found it necessary to make new importations. In 1872 he returned East and brought out Napoleon. With this importa- 
tion he also brought out four Jersey cattle : one bull St. Louis, one cow Nacky, and two heifers. To these he has added from 
time to time by importations from the best milkers in California as the nature of the case demanded. Mr. Myer's fourth impor- 
tation of stock from the Atlantic to the Pacific was made in 1876 when he brought out Pride of Perche, Gen. Fleury, White Rose 
and Jennie. In 1878 the fifth importation, consisting of an Arabian Percheron, named Arabian Boy, and the filly Juanita, 
was made. This filly which appears elsewhere in the book, in Mr. Myer's group of fine stock, was raised by Colon Cameron 
of Brickersfield, Penn. Arabian Boy was sired by the pure blooded Jenifer Arabian imported from Arabia by Col. Jenifer an 
American Officer of Egyptian Cavalry fame. He is the only Percheron Arabian in the United States. He may be seen in the 



APPENDIX. 535 

group. Willi this importation Mr. Myer brought out a small lot of Cotswold sheep f<>r J. P. Walker and a small lot of Durham 
cattle for E. F. Walker. Also for himself four Sheltand Ponies. Two of these were brought from the Shetland Islands thai 
year and two were bred in the United States, the Stallion -Bobby Burns — by Alexander, of Kentucky. Taking advantage of 
the invitation given by the N. P. R. R. Co., in the autumn of 1883 to the pioneers of the Pacific, Mr. Myer made his sixth 
importation of tine stock, bringing the celeLrated horse Gambetta and a Shetland stallion both imported to America the same 
year and both of which also appear in his group. In this importation there were six Jerseys, one bull and five heifers, all directly 
descended from the best butter producers in the United States. Some of their anscestors have sold as follows: several for $2,000 
each and one for $12,500. These Jerseys also appear in the group. Percheron horses bred from Mr. Myer's importations have 
found their way to British Columbia and Southern California, and from the Pacific throughout Oregon and Washington and 
Montana territories, and in all this territory are giving the very best of satisfaction. As additional evidence of the enterprising 
character of this gentleman we record the fact that to him belongs the credit of introducing to Rogue river valley the first gang- 
plow, the first improved Haines header and the first screw pulverizer; and to him and his brother Frank the first horse fork for 
hoisting and stacking hay, Though more than a decade past the meridian of life, Mr. Myer is more active and energetic than 
many other men at that very desirable epoch. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Myer are Frances, now Mrs. Billings, and 
William. 

ANDREW NASBURG was born July 8, 1839, in the parish of Forsa, near Hudixwall, Sweden. At the age of 
ten years he emigrated with his mother and one sister to America, (his father had died some years previous), where they settled 
first in Henry county, Illinois. About the time of our subject's departure from Sweden, two of his brothers, John and Olif, 
embarked bom another port, and during their oceanic trip a remarkable coincidence occurred, in which the respective vessels, 
carrying the family, met in mid-ocean, where the mother, sister and brothers were permitted to communicate with each other. 
After ten years residence in Illinois, Andrew, in company with his brother John, started for the Pacific coast, April 6, 1859. 
They came via Panama, and arrived at their destination, Port Orford, May 20, 1S59. Here young Nasburg engaged his ser- 
vices to H. B. Tichenor & Co., proprietors of a saw r mill, and continued with the company between four and five years, except- 
ing a portion of several winters, which time he employed in attending school. By the spring of 1864, through industry and 
economy, Mr. Nasburg had saved enough to embark on his own account in the mercantile line at Port Orford, being subse- 
quently appointed postmaster at that place. Three years experience satisfied our young merchant, when he purchased a farm 
near Marshfield, which he cultivated until December 3, 1869. The next move was to open a general merchandise store in 
Marshfield. In the spring of 1873 he formed a copartnership with Thomas Hirst in the same line. These gentlemen in 1875 
erected a commodious store building, (a view of which appears in this history), 40x60 feet, where they are now doing business. 
Mr. Nasburg married, April 19, 1871, Miss Emma Hirst, who is a native of Hanging Rock, Ohio. By this union they have 
had five children, viz: Louisa C, Willie, Chester (now deceased), Harry and Claude. 

ISRAEL BOYDE NICHOLS. — There are few men in Oregon to whom more credit is due for its development and 
settlement than the subject of this sketch who came to Oregon in its very infancy. Mr. Nichols was born in Muskingdum 
county, Ohio, near the town of McConnisville, September 22, 1824. His father being a salt manufacturer, Mr. Nichols' boy- 
hood was spent in his father's works, where he remained until nearly twenty-one years of age. In the fall of 1842 he located 
in the southern part of Iowa and enraged in farming one year, and then joined a train coming to Oregon with ox teams. On 
arriving on the Humboldt river the train separated — three of the wagons taking the California trail. W r ith the latter company 
was Mr. Nichols. With but few mishaps they arrived at Johnson's ranch in October, 1847, and made his first home in the 
"■olden state at the Santa Clara mission. In the spring of 1848 he went to Santa Cruz county, where he remained until the 
gold discovery. Mr. Nichols was among the first to enter the mining district at Sutter's Fort, and for the following two years 
engaged in mining and keeping store at the different camps, until the spring of 185 1, when he came vvith a 'pack train to Ore- 
gon. He at that time passed through the beautiful Cow creek valley, which he has since made his home. On his first arrival 
in the state Mr. N. engaged in the stock business, and in 1852 concluded to locate, and then took up a donation claim where 
he now resides, and still continues in the stock business. He has since added to his estate by purchase until now he has 1,50a 
acres of land in the Cow creek valley, on which he has recently built himself a fine residence, a view of which appears in this 
work. During the Indian wars of 1853-6, Mr. Nichols took an active part, serving under Gen. Phil. Kearney and Gen. 
Lane. A detailed account of the many narrow escapes, trials and privations that Mr. Nichols passed through in those years 
would fill a good sized volume. Suffice it to say, there were few men in the Rogue river wars possessing more true courage 
and daring, and who would sacrifice more for his fellow man than Mr. Nichols. After a residence of almost forty years on the 
Pacific coast — thirty-three of which were spent wdiere he now resides — he has collected sufficient of this world's goods to be able 
to take the comforts allowed an honest and well spent life, enjoying the confidence and esteem of all who know him. Mr. 
Nichols was united in marriage in 1852 to Miss Isabelle Riddle, a nsiiive of Ohio. By this union they had a family of twelve 
children — eleven of whom are living. Their names are: Artenicia J., now Mrs. Owen Willis; Rhoda E., now Mrs. David 
Thompson; Lewis W r .. Henry H., Abner E., Ulysses S., Israel B., Jr., Ben., Clara (now deceased), George E., Maximilian 
M . and Maria. 

HON. JAMES W. F. OWENS, whose portrait appears in this history, is a true pioneer of the Pacific coast. Born 
in Platte county, Missouri, February 22, 1843, and is the son of Thomas and Sarah (Damron) Owens. When but an infant 
his parents started in June, 1843, vith w : hat is known as the second Oregon immigration to cross the then almost unknown 
and trackless plains, and with ox teams they pursued their weary journey, finally arriving in The Dalles in November of that 
year. They there secured canoes and came down the Columbia river to Astoria, and there his father concluded to locate, se- 
lecting a farm on Clatsop plains where he resided until the fall of 1853, when they came to Douglas county and located on the 
place now owned by Rev. J. R. N. Bell, a short distance from Roseburg. Here our subject attended school, and at the age 
of fifteen years was placed in a high school at Dallas, Polk county. On his return from school, although yet a boy, he spent 
two years in the mines of Southern Oregon, and again returned to Roseburg and engaged in farming and stock raising, which 



536 APPENDIX. 

the followed until 1877. In the latter year the "Grange Business Association of Roseburg" was organized and Mr. Owen 
was elected its manager — a position he still holds — and to whose able management is due the present success of that large or- 
ganization. In June, 1874, Douglas county honored Mr. Owens with a seat in the state senate, an office he filled with ability 
and to the utmost satisfaction of his constituents. Mr. Owens belongs to that class which thinks that those who will, may win. 
As a business man he has the confidence of all who know him; as a citizen, the respect which his character and actions in life 
have entitled him; and what he possesses of this world's goods is the result of judicious labor prompted by his early surround- 
ings, and not the reward of chance or birth. Mr. Owens was married in Roseburg, August 7, 1864, to Miss Nannie L. 
Stevens, a native of Ohio. By this union they have one son, Lafayette, and two daughters, Esther and Effie. In conclusion 
we would say of Mr. Owens that the fortune which in the autumn of life surrounds him has been gathered by worthy hand, 
and properly rewards the life labors of a pioneer of his country. It is not infrequent that those who struggle less, and are fa- 
vored according to their efforts, are envious of those who succeed; but we can only say, success is generally the result, as in 
this case, of intelligent and honorable endeavor to succeed. In his wanderings, seeking a favored spot for a life home, he has 
woven into his history some strange adventures and hair breadth escapes — when want of food, and the Indian scalping knife 
has lurked close upon his trail — but which to detail would require more space than is admissible in this work. 

P. P. PALMER. — This well known gentleman and highly respected citizen, is a resident of Scottsburg, Douglas 
county. Mr. Palmer was born in Sussex county, Delaware, October 5, 1826, and resided on his father's farm until twenty 
years of age. He then went to Madison county and there found employment as a salesman in a store for two and one half 
years. He then started west, and on April 1, 1850, joined a train at St. Joseph, Missouri, to come to Oregon, arriving in 
Portland on the 10th day of October of that year. Mr. Palmer then proceeded to Yreka, California, where he followed min- 
ing, but for a short time; returning to Yamhill county and in the fall of 1851 came to Douglas county and first located in Gar- 
den valley. In 1857 he moved to the place now owned by Levi Kent, and there resided for five years. In 1863 Mr. Palmer 
was appointed inspector of customs at Gardiner, and consequently transferred his residence to that place, where he remained in 
that capacity (for a time post master of Gardiner) until 1871, when he purchased and moved to his present property at Scotts- 
burg and engaged in the mercantile business, which he followed successfully for ten or twelve years. He then closed out and in 
1884 opened his present hotel at Scottsburg, the "Palmer House," a view of which appears in this work. If present indica- 
tions can be relied on, the Palmer House is sure to succeed, as with Mr. Palmer and his hospitable family the weary stranger 
always finds the comforts of a well conducted hotel. Mr. Palmer was united in marriage at Wilbur, Douglas county, March 
6, 1856, to Miss Mary Slocum, a native of Kentucky, by which union they have had eleven children, all of whom are living except 
one, William E., who died December 25, 1883; Allie, now Mrs. Captain J. Hill; Albert, Elmer, Edith, Gussie, Annie, 
Mary, Elsie, Minnie and Pursey. 

CAPT. JUDAH PARKER. — -The subject of this sketch a well known and highly respected citizen of Coos county, 
and resident of Parkersburg, on the Coquille river, is a gentleman of whom a very respectable volume might be written could 
the facts of his changing and energetic life be fully given. Mr. Parker was born in Essex county, New Jersey, July 17, 1829, 
and there resided until his fifteenth year. His parents then removed to New York, locating in Seneca county; there our sub- 
ject assisted his father — the latter being a contracter and builder — for a period of six years. On reaching his majority Mr. Parker 
concluded to see some of the world and consequently shipped on board a whaling vessel bound for the Arctic ocean. . After a 
cruise of eighteen months they arrived at the Sandwich Islands, where our subject shipped on board the bark Bayard and 
returned to America, following coasting until the fall of 1853, when he shipped on board the ship Parthenon and came around 
Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco in February, 1854. He not unlike all the early Californians immediately pioceeded to 
the Gold fields, and for four years prosecuted his search for the precious metal, in Nevada county, meeting with moderate suc- 
cess. We next find Mr. Parker in the employ of the Pacific mail steamship company in the capacity of ship carpenter, and 
remained in their employ plying in that capacity between San Francisco and Panama until 1862. In the (all of that year Mr- 
Parker with the assistance of Mr. Wm. Ireland concluded to try to recover the immense treasure of the lost Golden Gate, which 
foundered off the coast of Mexico. Accordingly they fitted out the schooner Wm. Ireland, and sixty days later found them in 
the vicinity of the lost vessel — they being the fifth expedition that undertook to secure the Golden treasure. Through the 
admirable management and use of hydraulic pressure, a method discovered by Capt. Parker, they were enabled to secure $640,- 
000 of the two millions lost, and returned to San Francisco. On two subsequent occasions Capt. Parker went in pursuit of the 
treasure ; the second time being the winter of 1863-4, on which occasion he succeeded in raising some $60,000. The third 
attempt was made in 1870, when he found the wreck to be buried in twenty feet of sand. He then returned to Sap. Francisco 
and fitted out the steamer Mary Taylor, and again started in pursuit of the lost treasure — this time to South America — with the 
intention of raising an immense amount of money that had gone down with the wrecked Leo Cadia, a vessel that had foundered 
in the year 1802. In this undertaking, we may also mention, was Mr. G.W. Cooley, now a resident of Ellensburg, who had the 
misfortune of losing one of his eyes while performing the services of a diver. Capt Parker secured about five thousand Spanish 
dollars but on account of the long period in which they had lain in the salt water, were utterly worthless. He then returned to 
Calao with the intention of selling his vessel, but failing in this he returned to San Francisco, and in 1875 came to Coos county, 
first locating at Eastport, and about one year later moved to the present site of Parkersburg, and began the erection of a saw 
-mill which he has since, and at the present time operates — a view and history of which will be found in this work. Mr. 
Parker was united in marriage in San Francisco, April 6, 1863, to Miss Ottile Frederick, a native of Germany; by this union 
they had four children, three of whom are living, viz: Ottile E., Georgianna and Warren. 

JOSHUA PATTERSON was born in Eaton county, Michigan, December 2, 1857. His parents took him to Iowa 
when quite young, and from Belfountain they crossed the plains to Oregon in 1862, being five months and five days making the 
journey to Ashland. The family first settled on the Holton ranch, where they resided about one year, then took up a residence 
on a farm five miles north of Ashland, where the father lived up to the time of his death. The subject of this sketch went to 
California in the fall of 1872, and engaged in farming and running a threshing machine for about nine years. He there made 



APPENDIX. 537 

the acquaintance and married Ella Jane Fcwel on the i8th of September, 1881. They came to Oregon that fall and settled on 
the old homestead where he has since lived. His children are Myrtle, born July 4, 1882, and Henry Clay, born Nov. 12, 1883. 
C. T. PAYNE. — Among the early settlers of Oregon is the subject of this sketch, and a view of his residence is one 
of the illustrations in this history. He was born in Keystville, Chariton county, Missouri, on the 15th of December, 1831. 
Here he grew to manhood and married Elizabeth McCollum, April 15, 1852; She was born in Chariton county, Missouri, 
October 21, 1S34. They emigrated to Oregon with ox teams in 1852. via. overland route, and arrived in Linn county, where they 
settled August 10th of that year. Here he maintained a permanent residence until coming to Jackson county in June 1668, 
and the following February settled on his present ranch. John, James M., David, Sarah E., Martha J., Minnie May, Stacy, 
Champ T., Taylor, Mandy Lee and Richard F. are the names of their children. 

CYRUS H. PICKENS, - (deceased.) — Mr. Pickens was born in Green county, North Carolina, November 8, 1801, 
and is a descendant of that branch of the family which is so well known in that state to-day. He emigrated to California in 
i?49, crossing the isthmus of Panama. In 1865 he came to Jackson county, and settled on the ranch now owned by his son, 
Elijah P. Pickens, and died there, aged seventy-seven years. He married Helen Moore, who was born in Landon county, Vir- 
ginia, July 6 1808. Elijah P. Pickens, son of the above, was born in Pleasants county, Virginia, August 3, 1841. In 1858 
Mr. Pickens came to California, settling in Siskiyou county where he lived until 1878, thfn moved to Jackson county and set- 
tled on the farm of his father in Table Rock precinct — a view of which is found in this work. He married Elizabeth A. 
Everill, a native of England. 

FRANCIS M. PLYMALE, born in Giles county, Va., March 17, 1833. He went to Knox county, 111., about 
the year 1835. and there was educated and raised on a farm until the year 1852, when the family crossed the plains with ox 
teams, and settled in Jacksonville, where his father died. In March, 1853, Mr. Plymale settled on his present ranch six miles 
northeast from Jacksonville, where he has since lived. He married Jane E. Nickols, December 28, 1865. Anna, Norah, 
Cassie, Francis G., John S. and Medie are the names of his children. 

WILLIAM J. PLYMALE, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Knox county, Illinois, February 9, 
1837. In the year 1852 his parents emigrated to Oregon, arriving in November at Jacksonville, Jackson county. Here Mr. 
Plymale received his primary education, and finished a course at the Willamette University. He first engaged in farming in 
this county, and followed this occupation about twenty-three years. He has resided in Jacksonville about ten years. He was 
twice elected county surveyor of Jackson county, and to the legislature in 1874. He married Josephine L. Martin, daughter of 
William J. Martin, formerly register of the land office at Roseburg. Has a family of nine children living. 

JOHN W. PRICE. — This well known and substantial farmer of Oak creek valley, Douglas county, was born in 
Richland county, Ohio, near the town of Shelby, November 18, 1832. When nine years old his parents moved to Bellville, 
same county. Mr. Price resided on a farm with his parents until March, 1852, when he conluded to seek his fortune in the 
golden state. With three companions he left his home and went to Monroe, Michigan, where they purchased horses and a light 
wagon, and with this outfit they undertook to cross the plains to California. On arriving at Green river, Wyoming Territory, 
they were induced to change their route and consequently came to the "Webfoot" country, arriving in Oregon early in Septem- 
ber, 1852. Mr. Price immediately went to Yreka, California, where he found employment with a pack train- -remaining in 
this situation some four years. He then located on the ranch now owned by James Short, seven miles east of Roseburg, and 
engaged in farming and stock raising for the period of seventeen years, meeting' with abundant success. In 1878 he purchased 
his present homestead, then consisting of 700 acres, to which he has since added some 700 more; and now, after many years of 
patient toil has a finely stocked and well improved farm, consisting of 1,400 acres located on Oak creek, twelve miles north of 
Roseburg. In the summer of 1883 Mr. Price built one of the finest farm residences to be found in Southern Oregon — a view 
of which will be found in the body of this histoiy. Mr. Price is, indeed, a true gentleman, with whom it is a pleasure to meet, 
and it would be a fortunate thing for Douglas county if it had more such men with the same energy, perseverance and integ- 
rity, as Mr. John W. Price. He was united in marriage on the place where he now resides November I, 1857, to Miss Deliah 
Oden, a native of Missouri. By this union they have nine children, viz: James N., Charles A., John E., Ida L., Asher L., 
Sarah E., "William F., Samuel F. and Dora. 

HON. PAINE PAGE PRIM was born in Wilson connty, Tennessee, in 1822. He followed the plow on his father's 
farm until well along in years, graduating in the law department of the Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee. He 
came to Oregon in 185 1, the means of transportation being the primitive wagon of the day. He first settled in Linn county, 
but moved to Jackson county in 1852, where he was engaged as a miner, and afterwards commenced the practice of law at 
Jacksonville. His knowledge of the profession and keen perception of technicalities soon attracted the attention of litigants, 
and he found himself possessed of a lucrative practice. The year 1857 marked two important epochs in his life, the first being 
his marriage with Teresa M. Stearns, which event was closely followed by his election as a member of the state constitutional 
convention. He continued the practice of law until the organization of the State government in 1859, when he was appointed 
supreme judge and ex-officio circuit judge of the first judicial district. This position was held until the act in 1878 was passed 
making a separate supreme court, when he was appointed one of the associate judges. He was nominated for the same position 
in 1880, but, being defeated, again resumed the practice of his profession, and is now acknowledged as one of the leading 
attorney's of the first judicial district. He was elected senator from Jackson county in 1882, and was the Democratic caucus 
nominee for United States senator, receiving thirty-three votes for that honorable position. He is a gentleman who has been 
prominently connected with the history of our state for many years and is held in high esteem by relatives and friends. 

JOHN G. RAST, the well known proprietor of the Roseburg brewery, is a native of Luzerne, Switzerland, born 
May 10, 1838. In the spring of 1854 with his parents and three sisters he sailed from Havre for America, arriving in New 
Orleans in May of that year. They proceeded direct to St. Louis, where John was placed as an apprentice in a furniture man- 
ufactory, and he remained one year and then moved to Independence, Missouri, where he continued his trade. Two years 

later he, with his parents, moved to Davis county, Kansas, where they engaged in farming until May, 1859, when he joined a 
69 



538 APPENDIX. 

train and crossed the plains to Oregon. Coming direct to Douglas county, Mr, Rast made his home for the first three years 
with Mr. Charles Henderer, on Elk creek. In the fall of 1864 Mr. Rast came to Roseburg and purchased an interest in the 
Roseburg brewery with Mr. G. Mehl, in which he remained until 1871, when in that year they suffered the loss of their 
brewery by fire. Mr. Rast then purchased Mr. Mehl's interest in the property and rebuilt the brewery — the one he now oper- 
ates. A view of his dwelling adjoining his brewery property is among the illustrations of this history. Mr. Rast was married 
in Roseburg to Miss Clara Jones in 1875. They have a family of four children, Regenia, Samuel J., Annie M. and Gertrude. 

THOMAS G. REAMS was born in Litchfield, Kentucky, December 15, 1838. When he was about six years old 
his parents settled in Carlinville, Illinois, where they remained until 1852, and came to Oregon that year. With his father he 
was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company during the winter, .and in the spring they came to Jackson county, arriv- 
ing just before ihe commencement of the Indian war in 1853 — and settled near Phoenix. Mr. Reams was farming and mining 
here until 1864, when he took up his residence in Jacksonville and was appointed deputy sheriff, holding the office until 1868. 
That year he was elected sheriff — serving one term. After engaging in the livery business one year he opened a mercantile 
house at Phoenix, under the firm name of Reams & Sachs, which continued four years. Then, in conjunction with his brother, 
bought out Messrs. White & Martin, at Jacksonville, and since that time the firm has been "Reams Bros." Mr. Reams has 
been mayor of Jacksonville several terms, and a number of times a member of the common council. He was appointed briga- 
dier-general of the first brigade of Oregon militia by Governor Thayer. Received the nomination for secretary of state on the 
Democratic ticket in 1878, but was defeated by R. P. Earhart by 191 votes. He is a prominent citizen of Jacksonville, and 
is a past grand master of Masons in Oregon. His portrait appears in this work. Married Lucinda Williams, and has a family 
of seven children. 

GENERAL JOHN E. ROSS.— The subject of this sketch was born in Madison county, Ohio, February 15, 1818. 
His father moved to Fountain county, Indiana, when he was ten years old; thence to Cook county, Illinois, in 1833. He mar- 
ried, in 1840, the daughter of Alexander Robinson, of Chicago, who died after they had been married about eight months. In 
1847 General Ross came to Oregon, and was captain of a company which crossed the plains. Col. Ross, Jo. Kline, and an 
Englishman, left the company at Grand Ronde, with the intention of coming on through ahead of them. On the road beyond 
Rock creek, they discovered where a train had been attacked by the Indians. They overtook the emigrants after crossing John 
Day river, who proved to be the Warren party. They had been robbed of all they possessed, the Indians not even sparing 
them their wearing apparel. Mr. Ross traded his clothes to the Indians for provisions for this destitute band, and remained 
with them until his own train arrived — all coming to Oregon together. General Ross landed at The Dalles without a dollar, 
and went to work on a boat — which brought down emigrants to the falls — at one dollar per day. About the first of Novem- 
ber, 1847, he went to Oregon City and opened a butcher shop, which he conducted about one month. Then the Cayuse war 
broke out, and he enlisted in the first volunteer company, with H. A. G. Lee, captain, Joseph Magone, first lieutenant; and Mr. 
Ross, second lieutenant, and went to the mission station at The Dalles, on the Columbia river. Lee and Magone were pro- 
moted, and General Ross was commissioned captain of the company, holding this position during his term of service in that 
war. He returned to Oregon City after the Cayuse war in 1848, and was engaged in running a threshing machine when the 
news reached him of the discovery of gold in California. Leaving his machine standing in the field — which he never saw after- 
wards — he went to the mines on Feather river, and there engaged in mining until the fall of 1849, when he returned to Oregon; 
went back to the mines in California, in the spring of 1850, and was one of the first discoverers of gold on Scott's river. In 
185 1 he came to Yreka, thence to Josephine creek, and was one of the first discoverers of gold on Canyon creek, in Josephine 
county. He returned to the Willamette valley in the winter of 1851 and purchased a band of cattle, drcve them to the Rogue 
river valley in January, 1852, and opened a butcher's shop at Jacksonville. In the fall of 1852, General Ross raised a com- 
pany of thirty men and went to rescue immigrants who were attacked at Bloody Point on Tule lake. They joined Ben. 
Wright's company at Clear lake, and with them met a party of immigrants between Clear and Goose lakes, returning with 
them. On the road they buried about fourteen of the immigrants, who had been killed by Indians. Ross and his company 
paid their own expenses on this trip, and for pay they received the thanks of the Oregon legislature. In January, 1853, he 
married Elizabeth Hopwood, this being the first marriage in Jacksonville; the ceremony was performed by a Methodist 
preacher by the name of Gilbert. He settled on his present farm in December, 1853. In August, 1853, an Indian war broke 
out, and he was colonel in command of two battalions of mounted volunteers. After operating a few days in conjunction with 
Colonel Alden, of the U. S. army, and having only a few skirmishes with the Indians, General Lane arrived and took com- 
mand. After a hard-fought battle on the headwaters of Evans' creek, in which engagement General Lane and Colonel Alden 
were wounded, and Armstrong killed, the Indians made a treaty with General Lane. Colonel Ross acted as interpreter, both 
at the preliminary arrangements for the treaty, and at the treaty itself, although J. W. Nesmith was the appointed interpreter 
by General Lane, and is so reported by him. The Indians, however, did not know Nesmith, and were acquainted with General 
Ross, and it was only through him that they would communicate what they had to say in relation to the treaty. In 1854 he 
was ordered by the Governor to organize a company and send them out to protect the immigrants on the southern route, which 
was done, Captain Walker commanding. On the fifth of June of that year he was commissioned colonel of the 9th regiment 
by Gov. John W. Davis. In the fall of 1855, a break-out of the Indians, not only in this county but in the northern part of 
the state as well, resulted in a general war. Colonel Ross being in command of the 9th regiment, took the field, fought sev- 
eral severe battles, and was at length superseded in command by Col. J. K. Lamerick. At a special election held December 
15, 1855, he was elected to represent Jackson county in the territorial council, to fill a vacancy caused by removal of Dr. Cleve- 
land, and at the general election in June, i866,to the legislative assembly. In 1866-7 when the California and Oregon Railroad 
Company was formed, Colonel Ross was elected one of its directors, and the directors transferred the franchise to Holladay. 
He was appointed brigadier-general of the first brigade of the Oregon militia by Gov. L. F. Grover, on Dec. 2, 1872. 
The next important move was at the beginning of the Modoc war, when he was commissioned brigadier-general and took the 
field, commanding as such throughout the war, and participated in the principal engagements. In 1878 he represented Jackson 



APPENDIX. 539 

county in the state senate, and was honored by being appointed chairman of the military committee. He was appointed one 
of the investigating committee to report upon the acts of the preceding administration. Gen. Ross' portrait, and a view of his 
residence will lie found in this work 

TOBIAS STILLEY RIDDLE was born in Illinois, August 31, 1849, and when but a few years of age was 
brought by his parents across the plains to Oregon. Arriving in Douglas county early in 1852, Mr. Riddle's parents there 
located on the property they now own, near the town that bears his family name, "Riddle." Our subject remained under the 
paternal roof until the age of sixteen years. He then started out to do for himself. At that early age he began the stock 
business and laid the foundation for his present success. At the age of eighteen Mr. Riddle was united in marriage to Miss S. 
Smith, a daughter of George C. Smith, an old resident of Eugene, and later a resident of Myrtle Creek, Douglas county. [Mr. 
Smith and his son John met their death while engaged in the stock business in Happy valley, Stein mountain, at the hands of 
the Bannock Indians.] From small beginnings Mr. Riddle has built up a large and profitable stock business — his field of oper- 
ations novv extending all over Southern Oregon. He also owns a valuable farm in Cow creek canyon, consisting of 440 acres, 
and a beautiful residence in Canyonville where he now resides, a view of which will be found in this history. Mr. Riddle has a 
family of six children, whose names are: Carrie L., Walter C, Fred, Eva, Benjamin and Presley. 

ANDREW SAWYERS was born near St. Johns, New Brunswick, April 19, 1822, of Scotch-Irish descent. When 
he was four years of age his parents moved to Philadelphia. Being left motherless at an early age he was placed by his father 
on a farm where he remained until his seventeenth year, then returned to Philadelphia and served an apprenticeship at the 
carpenter trade, which he followed in the Quaker City until 1843, when he w r ent to New York. A few months later he 
moved to New Orleans, there working at his trade until October, 1849. He then, with his wife and two children, took pas- 
sage on the Mary VVatterman via. Cape Horn, for San Francisco, arriving there in May, 1850. Mr. Sawyers immediately 
found employment at his trade, which he followed till the fall of 1850, when he came to Oregon, first locating at Scottsburg. A 
few weeks later he settled on his present property, nine miles east of Scottsburg, now consisting of a fine farm of 640 acres. 
A view of his farm residence will be found in this history. Mr. Sawyers was united in marriage in New Orleans, December 
25, 1S44, to Miss Fannie McDowell, a native of Philadelphia. They have had ten children, five of whom are living, viz: 
Catherine, now Mrs. Josiah Stevens; Annie, now Mrs. Joseph Reed; Margaret, now Mrs. Peter Nelson; Fannie and Wm. S. 

JAMES F. SHEFFIELD, is a native of Huron county, Ohio; was born August 5, 1825, and there resided until 
the spring of 1850. On hearing of the wonderful wealth to be found on the Pacific coast he started in the spring of that year 
for California, and there followed mining until 1852, when he came to Oregon, and in 1853 to Douglas county, and purchased 
his present valuable farm, consisting of 470 acres two and a half miles south of Roseburg, on the banks of the Umpqua, on 
which he has erected a fine farm residence; a view of which appears in this work. 

THOMAS SHRUM. — This well known citizen of Douglas county, and early pioneer of Oregon, is a native of Lincoln 
county, Missouri, and was born December 8, 1827; residing on his father's farm until the spring of 1846. In April of that 
year, accompanied by his father, mother, three sisters and five brothers, started with ox teams "across the plains" to the far 
west. After six months of traveling and many hardships they arrived in this state and made their first stopping place five miles 
east of Salem where they located on a farm. There Mr. Shrum remained until the Gold discovery in California, when he with 
one brother hastened to the now Eldorado and followed mining in different parts of the state until the spring of 1852. He then 
returned to his home near Salem and resided there until 1854. Having concluded to locate a farm for himself he selected 
Douglas county for his future home and at that time purchased 160 acres one mile north of where he now lives. In 1864 he 
purchased his present homestead consisting of 600 acres on the banks of the Umpqua river, on which he has made many and 
valuable improvements — a view of which will be found in this work. And now, after many years of hard toil Mr. Shrum is 
prepared to take the comforts that only attend those who lead an honest and well spent life. Mr. Shrum was married in Marion 
county, October 29, 1857, to Miss Casandra Karns, a native of Indiana. They have a family of seven children, viz: Delia J. 
born August 29, 1858, Stephen J. born January 24, i860, Avriila W. born August 18, 1861, Sarah E. born May 21, 1863, 
Mary R. born May 17, 1865, Euphuma E. born April 30, 1867, and George W. born November 13, 1869. 

THOMAS J. SINGLETON. — This old and well known resident of Roseburg, and Douglas county, was born in Lin- 
coln county, Kentucky, April 30, 1835. When he was but four years of age his parents moved to Missouri, and first settled in 
Sheridan county, and a few years later located in Linn county, where they engaged in farming until the spring of 1853, when 
he with his parents and brothers started across the plains to Oregon. Arriving in this state in October, he first settled in 
Marion county, near Salem, for one year. In the spring of 1854 they came to Douglas county and located on a farm on Oak 
creek. Mr. Singleton lived with his parents on the farm until April 21, 1858, when he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah 
E. Taylor, of Marion county, and began farming for himself, on the place he now owns on Deer creek, adjoining the old home- 
stead, the latter which he now also possesses. Here he followed farming and stock raising until 1883, when on the death of his 
wife he moved his home into Roseburg where he now resides with his interesting family of seven children, viz: Mary Y. , now 
the wife of S. I. Thornton, Thomas E., Ada M., William L., Emma E., Walter and Minnie E. 

WILLIAM B. SINGLETON. — This well and favorably known citizen of Douglas county, is a native of Lincoln 
county, Kentucky, born August 16, 1837. In the spring of 1852, Mr. Singleton's parents started to cross the plains to Oregon, 
arriving at Portland in the fall of that year. In 1854, they came to Douglas county, and first settled on Oak creek. Some 
years later Mr. S. was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Cooper, and then located on his present beautiful ranch, in Deer 
creek valley; a view of which appears in this History. Mr. Singleton has made many improvements on a naturally beautiful 
place, until now he possesses one of the most desirable farms to be found in Douglas* county. He is engaged in general farm- 
ing and stock raising. 

CAPTAIN THOMAS SMITH was born in Campbell county Kentucky, September 14, 1809. The father died 
•when Thomas was but sixteen years of age. At the age of twenty-three, with his mother and sisters, he moved to Boone 
county, where he remained working at the carpenter trade until 1839, when he concluded to try his luck in Texas. He re- 



540 APPENDIX. 

mained in Texas ten years, and the lessons there learned in frontier life were of great advantage to him in his subsequent pio- 
neer life on the Pacific. In 1849 he came to California, crossing the plains by way of Fredericksburg and El Paso, Texas, 
New Mexico and Arizona, and the great desert through Lower California and arrived in the mines in October of that year. At 
Fredericksburg he was elected captain of a company of seventy-five men who were the pioneers over this route for 500 mi'es to 
El Passo. After his arrival in the mines he took sick and was not able to work any that year. The next summer he went to 
Feather river where he was again taken sick, but managed to make his way to Reading, where in the fall he was broken up by 
robberies by the Pitt River Indians. In the spring of 185 1 he came to the Yreka mines, where, hearing of the Oregon mines 
down in what is now Josephine county, crossed the Siskiyous on the 7th of June and engaged in mining on Josephine creek 
until October. When returning, he prospected for and found gold in considerable quantities at Blackwell and Willow Springs. 
Believing that good mines would soon be found at these places, he at once determined if possible to raise a crop of vegetables 
in the valley to sell to the miners. He at once located on the place until recently known as Capt. Smith's ranch, and went to 
Yreka to find some other parties who were willing to join him in such an enterprise. David Earl, Fred Albuding and Patrick 
Dunn agreed to take the chances and at once began to prepare for the enterprise. Mr. Smith returned at once to his claim 
where he remained alone eleven days before the arrival of the other men. It was on the nth day of November of that year 
(1851) that the Captain pitched his tent in- this beautiful valley, and the same spot was his home for twenty years, when tiring 
of farming he sold the old home and removed to Ashland. During the early years of his life in this home he passed through 
many exciting experiences. For several years Indian Chief Tipsu and band were his near neighbors and made themselves more 
sociable than agreeable to the Captain. In the wars of 1853-5, he was frequently called upon by neighbors to assist in chastis- 
ing the Indians for robbery, and in the adoption of measures to prevent this band from engaging with the balance of the Rogue 
Rivers in active hostilities against the white people. Mr. Smith was called by his constituents to represent them in the territorial 
legislature of 1855-6. In 1868 he was elected to the state legislature, and again in 1880 re-elected to the same position. He 
was married to Margaret J. Harrison, daughter of William Harrison, of Crawford county, Missouri, in August, 1857. Harrison 
county, Kentucky, was named in honor of her grand-father, who was a relative of President William H. Harrison. Mrs. Smith 
died December 22, 1874. Ella C. is the only child. 

H. C. STANTON, or as he is more familiarly known, "Hardy" Stanton, was born in the town of Westerlon, Albany 
county, New York, September 27, 1826. In the fall of 1851, he came to Moultrie county, 111., and during the summer of 1853 
crossed the plains and settled in that beautiful spot known as Garden valley of this county. From 1862 to 1865 Mr. Stanton mined 
on Salmon river and in the Boise basin. In the spring of i856, he settled in Roseburg, and was commissioned post-master for 
the Roseburg post-office by Alex. W. Randall Post-master General, December 6, 1867, upon the duties of which position he 
entered on the 9th, of January, 1868. This position he has held continuously ever since his appointment by the Post-master 
General, until May 22, 1883, when the office was designated a third class office, and he was re-appointed post-master by Presi- 
dent Arthur. In September, 1872, he commenced the mercantile business, and on July 23, 1873, he was married to Jennie M. 
Sinclair, a daughter of James Sinclair, formerly a factor or governor for the Hudson Bay Company. Mr. Stanton's children 
were born as follows: Lucy M., May 24, 1874; Edwin Cole, February 7, 1876, and Lillian A., August 22, 1883. A view of Mr. 
Stanton's residence will be found among the illustrations of this history. 

HON. DANIEL W. STEARNS, a prominent capitalist of Oakland, Douglas county, Oregon, and a native of the 
town of Chesterfield, Cheshire, county, New Hampshire; born December 31, 1821. Resided with his parents on a farm until 
twenty-two years of age, receiving his education in part at the common schools and afterward taking an accademic cource. At 
the above age Mr. Stearns went to Palmer, Mass.. where he found employment in a mercantile house for one year. He then 
engaged in business for himself in Ware, Mass., until 1847, when he closed out and went to Boston. That ever memorable 
year, 1849 found Mr. Stearns among the Argonauts coming by the way of the Isthmas to California, to seek fortunes in the rich 
diggings of which all had heard so much. He arrived in San Francisco, July 4th, and proceeded at once to the mines, where 
he engaged in different pursuits until 1852, when he was called East on the serious illness of his wife. Having once enjoyed 
the delightful climate of the Pacific coast, on the recovery of his wife he again set sail in 1853, for California — this t'me via. the 
Nicuragua route. Shortly after his arrival in San Francisco he came to Scottsburg, Douglas county, and engaged in business 
in the mercantile firm of Brown, Drum & Co., in which he remained but a short time, when he drew out his interest and opened 
a general merchandise store in Jacksonville, Jackson county, and continued until 1857, when his store was entirely consumed 
by fire. Mr. Stearns returned to Umpqua county, locating on a farm near Elkton, and there remained for two years. In 1867 
Mr. Stearns was elected to the office of county treasurer of Umpqua county, for two years; at the end of which time he removed 
to Roseburg, and in 1874 was elected by a large majority as representative to the state legislature for Douglas county. In 1875 
Mr. Stearns removed to Oakland — where he now resides — and in 1880 was elected state senator. Mr. Stearns was married in 
Massachusetts, January 3, 1847, to Miss Almira Fay, by whom he has five sons, viz: George J. at present a leading merchant of 
Oakland, Oregon; Loyal B. a prominent attorney of Portland and the present county judge of Multnomah county; A. F., at 
present merchandising in Oakland, Oregon; John W. merchant in Walla Walla, W. T., and Ralph S. in the employ of the O. 
& C. R. R. Co. A view of Mr. Stearns' nice residence in Oakland, together, with that of his son George J. is placed among 
the illustrations of this volume. 

FENDAL SUTHERLIN. — The largest land owner and recognized wealthiest resident of Douglas county, is a native 
of Indiana, where his younger days were spent until 1848, when he came with his parents to Oregon and began the battle of life 
for himself. By economy, industry and hard work he has accomplished that which other men with less energy would fail to do. 
Mr. Sutherlin is married and has a family of five children. He now resides in Oakland, Oregon, and has retired from the 
active pursuits of life with the exception of the managing of his large financial business. A view of Mr. Sutherlin's early home 
is placed in this work. 

STEPHEN CLARK TAYLOR, born in Franklin county, Massachusetts, September 17, 1828. When two years 
old his parents emigrated to Ashtabula county, Ohio. Here they lived seven years, then moved to Winnebago county, Illinois, 



APPENDIX. 541 

settling in Pecatonica. Here he married Mary A. Prescott, October 24, 1850. They came to Oregon in 1853, crossing the 
plains with ox teams, and after a journey of six months they arrived in Jackson county, locating on their present farm four 
miles northeast of Phoenix, November 8, 1S53. Here Mr. Taylor erected a cabin, the only tools he had to do the work with 
being a jack-knifeand ax. This cabin was 16x20 feet, made of pine logs four high, covered with "shakes." In this rude 
dwelling they lived during the winter, the only furniture being two tin plates, a few knives and forks, and wooden benches. 
The method for cooking bread adopted by Mrs. Taylor was novel as well as original. A fire was made on the earth, and when 
a sufficient quantity of coals had accumulated to make the ground hot, they were removed, and two stones were set on either 
s'.de, edgewise, and on these another flat stone was placed (having been previously heated), and in this oven the iron pan hold- 
ing the dough was placed and baked to a turn. They lived on this ranch about four years (it being a donation claim), and then 
took up their abode on an adjoining piece of property, owned by Mr. Taylor's father, and in after years the subject of our 
sketch became its owner. Mr. Taylor's children are: Henry H., Willis W., Ellen Elizabeth and Corey Clark. 

S. I. THORNTON is a son of Jeptha Thornton, an old and highly respected citizen of Oak creek, Douglas county, 
and is a native of DeKalb county, Missouri, born March 2, 1855. When ten years old his parents crossed the plains to Oregon 
and settled in Douglas county, in 1866. At the age of twenty years S. I. started out to do for himself — with what success may 
be seen in the valuable farm he now possesses, consisting of 300 acres located in one of the most fertile valleys (Deer creek), to 
be found in Douglas county, on which he has built himself a fine residence — a view of which appears in this work. At the 
present time Mr. Thornton is engaged in a profitable livery business in Roseburg, where he now resides; and although yet a 
young man, he has through his energy and business ability secured a comfortable competency, and is a fit subject for other 
young men to imitate. Mr. Thornton was united in marriage January 26, 1878, to Miss Jennie, eldest daughter of Mr. T. J. 
Singleton, by which union they have one son and one daughter — Arthur Lee and Lena V. 

RICHARD THOMAS, is a native of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, born November 25, 1837, and there resided 
until 1853, when he came to this coast via Nicauragua, and first settled in California, where he followed mining until 1856. He 
then came to Oregon in the fall, direct to Douglas county, and engaged in farming, in which he was successful, acquiring some 
1,700 acres of land. In 1872 he moved his family to Oakland, and there opened a hotel, which he has successfully managed 
ever since. Is at present the proprietor and owner of the Depot Hotel, a first class house, a view of which may be seen in this 
history. Mr. Thomas was married in May, 1864, to Mrs. Sarah E. Cozad, a daughter of Dr. L. Hall. They have two chil- 
dren, Fannie and Mary. 

GEN. JAMES CLARKE TOLMAN. — One of the leading citizens of Jackson county and foremost among the 
representative men of Oregon, is Gen-, James Clarke Tolman, Surveyor General of this state. A man of great decision of 
character and executive ability, he has always occupied the position of leader of his fellowmen, and after fifty years of active 
participation in the affairs of his country, retains the confidence and respect of not only his political associates, but of adherents 
to the opposing party. From his youth an enthusiastic whig, he has been, during the lifetime of the party, a consistent and 
unswerving, republican. He comes of a family of patriots and pioneers, and inherited the genuine pioneer instincts, those of 
the higher type — not the feeling that makes one shun the intellectual advantages and refinements of older communities because 
of a lack of sympathy with, and appreciation of, them, but that nobler sentiment which impels its possessor to carve out his own 
fortune from the crude material and to develop and improve the wilderness in accordance with the creator's plan of upward 
progression. His father, Seth Tolman, was of Holland extraction and Mary, his mother, English, a daughter of Captain 
Clarke, a veteran of the Revolutionary war, serving in the ranks of the Continentals from the Boston tea party till the close of 
the long struggle for independence. When the war was over his parents settled in Washington county, Pennsylvania, but by 
discreet conduct managed to escape ruin from the devastations of the Tom Tinker whisky insurrectionists. They next removed 
to Marrietta, Ohio, where they were frequently compelled to "fort up" in block houses with their neighbors to defend them- 
selves from hostile Indians. Judge Tolman was born in Washington county, Ohio, March 12, 1813, and eight years later 
moved with his parents to Champaign county, in the same state. Those were the pioneer days of Ohio, when log houses were 
the only habitations, and these few and far between, and when the little log school house held sway. In such a house he lived, 
and in such he received his education — and it might be said that from such have sprung many of the greatest men of our nation, 
not the least of which are Lincoln, Chase, Grant and Garfield. At the age of seventeen he apprenticed himself to Jesse C. 
Phillips (a cousin of Tom Corwin), and spent three years in learning the business of manufacturing leather. He then entered 
the university at Athens, Ohio, pursuing English branches with characteristic assiduity for a year, during which time he also 
imbibed much knowledge of a useful and practical nature by the exertion of his great powers of observations. For several years 
he engaged in various pursuits, lending to each his full energy and enthusiasm, and being an earnest supporter of General Har- 
rison and the unsuccessful whig ticket in 1836. The family, consisting of father, mother, two brothers and himself (a sister and 
brother having died), removed to Iowa in 1839, and settled in Van Buren county, began again a genuine pioneer life. Land 
claimants were bought out and 200 acres of land were bid in at public sale in Burlington, and the Gen. engaged in farming, 
encountering all the trials and hardships of a frontier life. Iowa at that time was strongly democratic, yet he adhered firmly to 
his whig principles. He was placed on the ticket of that party for the territorial legislature, and though party lines were closely 
drawn and a warm canvass followed, during which he was the only whig speaker on the ticket, he obtained 400 democratic 
votes and only missed 60 votes of being elected. In the fall of 1845 he removed to Ottumwa and engaged in the manufacture 
of leather. Here he was again placed on the whig ticket, contrary to his desires, but accepted the nomination at the solicita- 
tion of friends who urged that his opponent was hard to defeat. The whole county ticket was elected, though the democratic 
territorial ticket received 125 majority. In 1844 his thoughts turned towards the Pacific, and when news of the gold discovery 
reached Iowa in the fall of 1848, he began preparing to seek the El Dorado in the spring. In due time he started, and as sole 
pilot of an ox team he arrived in the mines on the seventh of October, 1849. Declining several advantageous business offers, he 
went to work with the pick and shovel as a genuine miner. His usual energy and attention to his business won him success, 
and he returned to Iowa in the fall of 1851 well rewarded for his California venture. Ill health during the winter caused him 



542 APPENDIX. 

to wind up his business and prepare to again seek the shores of the Pacific. On the twenty-seventh of April, 1852, he was 
married to Elizabeth E. Coe, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and within forty-eight hours was again enroute across the plains, the pilot and 
general adviser of ten wagons of emigrants. The train reached Yreka in 82 days without the loss of an animal, notwithstanding 
they had to fight their way through the Modoc country. Gen . Tolman crossed the Siskiyous into Rogue river valley with a 
portion of the train, arriving the last of August, and bringing the first families to the valley from across the plains direct. He 
purchased the rights of two squatters and began preparing for raising stock. Early in 1853, perceiving the impending tiouble 
with the Indians, he look his stock to California and sold them. He then went to Coos Bay to look after some investments he 
had made there for two young men, and returned to the valley in time to sit on the coroner's jury which investigated the death 
of the first white victim in the Indian war of 1853. When the war was over he sold out his place, and with his wife and one 
child took a mule-back ride to Empire City, on Coos Bay. He soon withdrew from the company without realizing anything 
on his investment, and took up a half section of land upon which is located the town of Marshfield, where ^e erected a rude 
house for his family. He spent the spring of 1854 in exploring that region, being the first white man to open a trail across the 
isth:nus between Coos Bay and Coquille river. In August, 1854, he returned to Rogue river valley, leaving his claim in charge 
of another man, who sold it out and vamoosed. The Judge upon his return to the valley purchased for $8,500 the ranch he 
now owns, including the stock thereon and again engaged in stock raising. When the Indian war broke out in 1855, he hastily 
gathered his stock and drove'them to California, and sold them for what they would bring. It was two years before he could 
resume his business. He then purchased blooded stock — English turf horses, Morgans and Lionhearts — and in a few years 
realized handsomely on his investment. The severe winters of 1861-2 almost annihilated his band of cattle. When the state 
government was organized in 1858, Mr. Tolman was elected Judge of Jackson county by a large majority although three-fourths 
of the voters were democrats. He was re-elected in 1862, defeating his opponent two to one. In this important position he 
was enabled during the critical times of the civil war to do more than any one else to prevent open hostilities; also to reduce 
taxation fifty per cent., and rescue the county from threatened bankruptcy. He was nominated for governor on the republican 
ticket in 1874, but the formation of a third party gave the administration into the hands of the democracy, and he accepted his 
defeat with becoming'resignation. In 1878 Judge Tolman was appointed Surveyor General of Oregon by President Hayes, and 
re-appointed by President Arthur in 1882. His administration of the affairs of that office meets with the hearty approval of the 
administration and of the people generally. He is firm and prompt in the discharge of his official duties, and never has his 
integrity or motives been impeached. During half a century of active business and official life he has won and retains the 
respect of all with whom he has come in contact, irrespective of their political opinions; and though he has never sought election 
or appointment to office, they have both come to him unsolicited. In these days of machine politics and corruption in office, it 
should be Oregon's boast that she possesses an official who occupies a higher plane. Gen. Tolman's portrait appears in this 
work. 

JOHN P. TUPPER, was born in Colchester county, Nova Scotia, August 22, 1829. At the age of sixteen he entered 
a ship yard to learn the trade of ship carpenter. After serving an apprenticeship of four years, he worked at his trade in his 
native country until 1869, when he came to California, arriving in San Francisco June 12. He there found employment at his 
trade for a few months, and then came to Coos Bay to take charge of the building of a schooner at Marshfield, where he 
resided until 1877. In the spring of that year Mr. Tupper concluded to try his fortune in the Black Hills, but after a short 
stay in Colorado returned to Coos county, fully convinced that "all is not gold that glitters." In the spring of 1881 Mr. Tup- 
per was employed to take charge of the government improvements at the mouth of the Coquille. While on this work he was 
so impressed with the beauties of the place where he now resides that he purchased 160 acres at the mouth ot the Coquille 
river, and in 1882 built his present hotel, the "Ocean House," a view of which will be found in this work — and in 1883 laid 
off the town of Seaside City, which promises to be a leading summer resort in Southern Oregon. Mr. Tupper was married in 
Falmouth, Nova Scotia, October 3, 1861, to Miss Martha A. Lynch, a native of Nova Scotia. They have one son, Ben- 
jamin F. 

HON. JACOB WAGNER, of Ashland, who is owner and proprietor of the Ashland Flouring Mills, was born at 
Dayton, Ohio, September 26, 1820. With his parents, John and Hester Wagner, he removed to Elkhart county, Indiana. 
From thence he came to Louisa county, Iowa; and from thence to Oregon in 1850, and settled on Wagner creek, Jackson 
county, in the spring of 1852. [n 1862 he moved to Ashland, where he resides at this writing. He was state senator from 
June, 1862, to June, 1866, and was at the extra session of the legislature called together to adopt the 13th amendment to the 
constitution of the United States — was county commissioner in 1874-5, an ^ has been a prominent and honored citizen from the 
first. In i860 he returned to Iowa and was united in marriage to Miss Ella Hendrix. Their children are: Annettie, John 
M., Fred D., Mabel E., Ella T., Jessie N. and Jacob Ernest. 

JOHN P. WALKER, was born in Christian county, Kentucky, and is now in his sixty-second year. In 1827 he, 
with his parents, moved to Illinois, and in 1839 to Iowa. There he engaged in farming until 1849, when the gold fields of 
California lured him across the plains to the golden state. However, he sojourned in the gold fields but a few months, when 
he returned to Iowa. Like most others who once enjoyed the beautiful climate of the Pacific coast, he concluded to come 
to Oregon, which he did in 1853, by the southern route, direct to Jackson county, where he has since lived, amassed a com- 
petency, and built up a reputation for truth, honesty, and integrity. Mr. Walker was married January 26, 1855, to Mary A., 
relict of C. F. Walker, and daughter of Nathaniel Myer, late of Ashland. His family now consists of his wife and four chil- 
dren, viz: Mary E., Milo A., Cassius C. and Annie T. His home — a view of which appears in this history — is situated on, 
mile south of Ashland, is among the most valuable and best improved farms in Southern Oregon. Mr. Walker is ever ready, 
both by means and counsel, to assist in the advancement of every good cause. Thus distinguished for all the virtues that 
adorn the character of friend, neighbor, and citizen, he lives in his own quiet way in the enjoyment of the fruits of his own 
industry. 



APPENDIX. 



513 






FRAZIER WARD, was born in Warren county, Missouri, May 10, 1S32. At ihe early age of thirteen years he was 
left an orphan — his father dying when Frazier was but six years old. On the death of his mother he was adopted into the 
family of Mr. John Wyatt, with whom he lived until twenty-one years of age. He then concluded to come to the Pacific coast, 
and in the spring of 1S53 joined a party of emigrants to Oregon. On his arrival in this state Mr. Ward came direct to Doug- 
las county, first locating in the French settlement, and in the fall of that year located his present farm, consisting of 320 acres, 
some four miles north of 1 .ooking-glass. where he has since resided, successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. 
In addition to his splendid farm on which he resides, Mr. Ward owns some 900 acres north of Coles' valley, A view of his 
residence will be found in this work. Mr. Ward was married in the French settlement in 1857, to Mary A., the youngest 
daughter of H. B. Flournoy, now deceased, an early and highly respected citizen of Douglas county, and the first settler in the 
valley that now bears his name. They had nine children, of whom three are deceased. Those living are: Howard L., 
Liliie N., Mary V., Thomas F, Winnie O. and Maggie A. Those deceased are: Oscar A., Samuel H. and Whafie W. 

COLONEL JAMES WATERS, was born February 22, 1797, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fought in the war 
of 1812 as a volunteer; enlisted in regular army in 1818, served five years and was discharged in 1823; fought under Colonel 
Taylor in Seminole war in 1S36-7. In the fall of 1837 he w^as under the command of General Deniphan, in the fight against 
the Mormons in Missouri. Came to Oregon in 1843. Entered the Cayuse war as lieutenant-colonel, and at the death of 
Colonel Gilliam was promoted to colonel. He moved to Douglas county in 1853, and is now living on Looking-glass creek 
about one and three-fourth mile from Looking-glass village. He was married in 1825 to Miss Mary Wills, to whom were born 
six children. 

JOHN W. WEAVER, a resident of Douglas county, Oregon, since 1850, was born in Blunt county Tennessee, 
February 28, 1S32. When he was three years old his parents moved to Clay county, Kentucky, where he received a common 
school education, and resided until 1842. After a short stay in Van Buren county, he with his parents moved to Taney county, 
Missouri, and there resided until April 22, 1850, when Mr. Weaver, with his father, mother, one brother and two sisters, started 
with ox teams to Oregon. After a tedious trip of six months — to a day — they first entered the boundaries of Oregon. July 8, 
1851, the family came to Douglas county and settled on the place now owned by Mr. Weaver, and one year later built the 
residence in wbich Mr. Weaver now lives, and which is supposed to be the oldest frame house in Douglas county — a view of 
the same will be found in this history. Here, for the past thirty-two years, Mr. Weaver has resided, and through honesty and 
industry has accumulated a sufficient amount of this world ? s goods as to allow him to enjoy the comforts of a happy home — 
madeVloubly so by the presence of his wife and family of three children — whose names are: George Walter, Lulie M. and 
Frank. 

DANIEL WELKER, was born in Perry county, Missouri, December 3, 1828. At the age of sixteen, his father 
being badly hurt by a vicious horse, Daniel was sent to live with an uncle until April I, 1852, when he, in company with Rob- 
ert Henkle and family, and an uncle, Wm. Fulbright, started with ox teams to cross the plains to Oregon. After and une- 
ventful trip of six months they arrived in Marion county, Mr. Welker locating some ten miles southeast of Salem, where he 
resided until June, 1855. He then came to Douglas county, and first located on land now owned by Mr. Tipton, on the north 
side of the North Umpqua river, remaining there until 1864, when he purchased his present place, consisting of 900 acres on 
the south bank of ihe North Umpqua river, some fifteen miles from Roseburg. Mr. Welker has a well improved farm, and is 
highly respected by his neighbors and the county people in general, and is considered one of Douglas county's solid men. A 
view 7 of his home will be found in this work. Mr. W. was united in marriage in June, 1855, to Miss Mary J. Tipton, a 
native of Tennessee. They have five children living, viz: Sarah E„ now Mrs. Edward Smith; Martha A., Ida May, Lyda J. 
and William W. 

L. L. WILLIAMS. — In all animate life there are grades of intelligence so plainly marked that the difference is evi- 
dent at a glance. Between men this gradation is so distinguishable and universal that attention has only to be called to the fact, 
to secure its unquestioned recognition. Among the Australian Bushmen or in the court circle of kings, the genius of a few 
men lead, while the many follow. These are but truisms, facts old as the human family; still, it is not out of place to call 
attention to them and the addtional truth that it is not infrequent for many, who follow some distance in the rear to forget, when 
the smoke of battle has passed, that they were not in the van. Nature designs some men for active service, and for such to 
fall short of becoming an important element in the progressive operations of whatever sphere circumstances places them, would 
be something theycould not do. It would be impossible for comprehensive minds to dwell upon that which failed to possess 
the charm of intricacy er magnitude something beyond the ordinary; and those possessing such faculties move off in the 
advance, plan and execute where others hesitate and fail to act. Every community has within it characters of this kind more 
or less marked, who are termed the leading men or minds. In Southern Oregon there was one of this class who stood so far 
in the van of progress, that his name has but to be mentioned to elicit a universal approval of the assertion from all except his 
personal enemies, or the envious, whose opinions are of little value. We refer to the gentleman whose name heads this me- 
moir, and the reader has but to learn what his operations in this county have been, to cheerfully accord him the meed of 
approval. He did not derive as much personal benefit from the result of his labors as the people of the county have, and his 
business efforts were all of a nature, calculated to inure to the public advantage more than his private advancement. Mr. 
Williams was born in Vermont in 1831, and with his parents moved to Michigan in 1833, and in that state resided some sixty 
miles from Detroit until fifteen years of age. That region was then newly settled, and young Williams never attended school. 
At the age above mentioned he joined a party of trappers and hunters, and from that time he became a self-reliant frontiersman, 
which character he well maintained until the time of his death. He reached California in .1850, and the following year came 
to Port Orford with Captain Tichenor. In 1 85 1 he was seriously wounded in an engagement with the Indians, near the mouth 
of the Coquille river, from the effect of which it is doubtful if he ever fully recovered. A few years later he served as treasurer 
of Umpqua county for two terms, and afterwards was twice elected county clerk of the same county. After the consolidation 
of Umpqua and Douglas he was three times elected and twice appointed to the office of county clerk, and was one of the most 



544 



APPENDIX. 



faithful and capable officers that county has ever had. In 1863 he became captain of a company of Oregon volunteers, and 
served about three years against the Indians. During the last ten years he traveled much, visiting the Black Hills, the Yel- 
lowstone park, and the various portions of the British possessions. While on a visit to California he was taken sick in San 
Francisco, and after a short illness died March 25, 1881. His remains were taken charge of by the Odd Fellows, of which 
society he was an exemplary member — and conveyed to Roseburg, where they were deposited in the Odd Fellows' cemetery, 
and by that order a beautiful monument was erected to his memory, a view of which appears among the illustrations of this 
work. He was a man of superior ability, a self-taught scohlar, rigidly temperate and virtuous in his habits, and scrupulously 
honest in his dealings with his fellow men. 

REV. W. A. WILLIS. — There are probably few men in the state of Oregon who have worked withmore zeal in the 
vineyard of the Lord and at the same time looked after agricultural interests with more energy than the subject of this sketch. 
Mr. Willis was one of the very first settlers in Deer creek valley, having selected and located his present valuable farm in 1852, 
and in that year built his present residence — a view of which appears in this history. Mr. Willis is a Kentuckian by birth, 
born in Todd county, November 15, 1822, and in his early childhood was taught the strict religious principles of the M. E. 
church, the fruits of that teaching culminating in his becoming a minister of that denomination. In 1852 he crossed the plains 
to this coast, since which time he has resided on his present place, consisting of 400 acres, seven miles east of Roseburg. Mr. 
Willis is married, and has a family of three children. 

ANTHONY H. WOODRUFF, now resides on a farm one mile north of Cleveland, Douglas county, on the border 
of which runs the Umpqua river. This place is counted among the most valuable in the county; contains some 900 acres; is 
well fenced and cultivated; has a fine new residence and a large orchard. For general appearance and adjacent scenery the 
reader is referred to a view of it accompanying this work. Mr. Woodruff was born in Ontario county, New York, October 12, 
181 5, and is now (1884), in his sixty-ninth year, but is still hale and vigorous. He is married and has raised a large family. 

JOHN M. WRIGHT. — A prosperous and well to do farmer of the French Settlement, is a native of Kanawha county, 
West Virginia, born June 12, 1826, Residing in his birth-place until 1843 — m tne meantime learning the trade of cooper — he 
with his parents moved to Linn county, Missouri and there embarked in farming until the spring of 1850, when, with his 
brother, Louis F., he started for California. On his arrival he at once proceeded to the mines on the American river where he 
mined with good success until March, 1851, and then returned to his home in Missouri via. the Isthmus of Panama with the 
intention of bringing his family to California. April 20, 1852, found Mr. Wright again ready to brave the dangers of a trip 
across the plains accompanied by his wife and three children, and his brother-in-law, John P. Bowyer. On arriving in the 
Black Hills they were met by Mr. H. B. Flournoy then on his way East, and by him induced, on account of the bad roads on 
the California route, to change their course to Oregon. After a weary trip of some six months they arrived at The Dalles, 
September 6, 1852. Mr. Wright first located near Corvallis, where he remained until February, 1853, and then located in 
Douglas county, first settling on land now owned by J. Flournoy, where he resided until 1857, when he purchased of E. M. 
Moore his present valuable farm consisting of 600 acres, five miles north of Looking-glass. A view of his farm residence, which 
will compare favorably with any in Douglas county, will be found in this work.- Mr. Wright is a highly respected and influential 
citizen, and now after many years of toil and hardships is prepared to reap the comforts of a well spent and prosperous life. 
Mr. W. was united in marriage in Missouri, June 17, 1846, to Miss Emily Simmons, a daughter of Thomas Simmons, of How- 
ard county; they have a grown family of three sons and four daughters, as follows: William W., Roena L., now Mrs. Joseph 
Jones; Missouri N., now Mrs. L. T. Thompson; Alice G. V., now Mrs. Van Buren; Emily M., now Mrs. David West; Calvin 
W. and Lee S. Alson, and one adopted daughter, Lizzie. 

JOHN B. WRISLEY. — A man whose almost entire life has been spent on the frontier, was born in Middlebury, 
Vermont, August 16, 1819. During Mr. Wrisley's early life his father was proprietor of a large manufacturing establishment ' 
at Hoosac Falls, but being called upon suddenly for the payment of a large security debt he was financially broken up, and 
removed with his family to the Genesee valley in the state of New York. When John was only thirteen years of age his father 
moved to Silver, Washtinau county, Michigan, then a wild territory, settling with his family at a point from which their nearest 
neighbor was eighteen miles distant. Here John B. Wrisley learned blacksmithing and the rudiments of farming, and in 1840, 
the family scattered, he went to the territory of Wisconsin and commenced work in the lead mines at Mineral Point. On 
June 15, 1845, he married Eliza Jane Jacobs, by whom he has raised ten children, the eldest daughter, Mrs. Alice Goddard, 
being the first white child born in the Rogue river valley. In 1849, Mr. Wrisley crossed the plains alone to California, working 
at Auburn, Placer county, at Yankee Jim's on the North Fork of the American river, and on the Trinity, being one of the first 
miners on the latter stream. Returning to Auburn from Trinity, he found an extremely rich claim, but being in bad health and 
unable to work, he returned to his family in Wisconsin in 1850. He did not remain long, however, and yearning for the free 
wild life of the early days on this coast, he started across the plains with his family and a large band of cattle, arriving in Yreka 
with but two yoke of cattle and one cow out of the whole band. Mr. Wrisley remained but a short time in Yreka. Coming 
to the Rogue river valley in 1852, he located a donation claim on the north side of Rogue river where he resided for thirteen 
years. In 1865, Mr. Wrisley bought a farm near Central Point, which now comprises four hundred and eighty acres of rich 
land, and as near the frontier as he wishes to be. John is truly a pioneer if there is one, and knows the danger of pioneer life. 
He has voted for the state constitution of Wisconsin, California and Oregon. He has passed safely all the Indian wars of this 
section as a high private, never accepting military or civil office. John B. Wrisley still continues to reside on his farm near 
Central Point — a view of which can be found in this work — and is noted for being an honest, upright gentleman, a care- 
ful industrious farmer, honored by friends and beloved by his family. 



APPENDIX. 545 

MARSHFIELD SAW MILLS AND SHIP YARD, a view of which appears in this work. This is one of 
the ra ost extensive industries in Southern Oregon and will compare favorably with any other enterprise of the kind in the state. 
Situated in the southern part of the town of Marshfield, the main mill building being two hundred by two hundred feet, and 
supplied with all the latest improved machinery, it having a capacity of thirteen millions feet of lumber per year. This mill was 
first built by John Pershbaker in the year 1867 and run by him until 1871, then having a capacity of twenty-five thousand feet 
per day. It then passed into other hands until 1873, when the present firm of E. B. Dean & Co., purchased the property, this 
firm is composed of the following gentlemen: E. B. Dean, David Wilcox and Charles H. Merchant, the latter being the resident 
partner and manager nnd to whose business ability its present success is due. In connection with the mill they have a ship 
yard where two or more vessels are built per year, and many of the well known schooners plying in the coasting trade were built 
at this yard. At the present time they emyloy forty-five men in the mills and about one hundred in their logging camps, they 
owning a large tract of timber land in Coos county. The lumber sawed at these mills is fir, spruce and white cedar, the most 
of which is shipped to California and foreign ports. In connection with their mill and ship yard they run a large general mer- 
chandise store situated a short distance from the mill, and carry a stock of goods valued at thirty thousand dollars. 

SEASIDE CITY. — This town, the last in Coos county to the southwest, is situated on a beautiful level plain at the 
mouth cf the Coquille river, and having an elevation of 200 feet above the sea level. It was laid out in March, 1S84, by Mr. 
J. P. Tupper, and at the present time consists of one hotel, the "Ocean House," kept by J. P. Tupper, a view of which will 
be found in this work, and one store. Seaside City promises to be a place of considerable importance in the near future, as 
at the present time it is considered one of the most pleasant summer resorts in Southern Oregon, having all the natural advan- 
tages of scenery, a beautiful beach, and a delightful climate, and in the hands of its present owner, Mr. Tupper, Seaside City 
is bound to become a resting place for the weary. 

RANDOLPH BREWERY. — This enterprise is located at Randolph, Coos county, and first began in January, 1883, 
by its present proprietor, Mr. Joseph Walser, it having a capacity at that time of 300 barrels per month, to which he has since 
added to, until now the brewery has a capacity of over 400 barrels per month. At the present time there is not over one-half 
the capacity of the brewery made. The beer manufactured by Mr. Walser is pronounced to be of the finest quality. 

CAPE BLANCO LIGHT HOUSE. — This is one of the most important lights on the Pacific coast, and was 
established in 1870, and lies in latitude 42 50 1 07", longitude 124° 32' 29". The light tower itself, a massive structure, built 
entirely of brick and iron, and reaches a height of about eighty feet, stands on the extreme outer edge of the Cape after which 
it is named. Cape Blanco is the most westerly point of land in the United States, and has a light of the first order, using 
what is termed the white lights. The cost of the structure, together with the large brick residence for the keepers adjoining, 
a building 90x100 feet and two-stories high, was close to $100,000. Lieutenant-Colonel R. A. Williamson superintended 
the building of the structures, and the first keeper appointed was H. Burnap, he having charge until 1874 ; when in that year 
C. W. Terry was appointed, and he in turn was relieved by C. H. Pierce, who was the custodian of the lights until Septem- 
ber, 1883, when its present efficient keeper, Mr. James S. Langlois, who had served as under keeper for some six years, was 
appointed. 




^^yirx^t^ v^^c 



